Word Search Maker
Type your own words, choose a grid size, and print a word search made from them.
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Words to Find
Made with Crossword Print · crosswordprint.com/word-search-maker/
The Word Search Maker is a free, browser-based tool that builds a printable word search from your own list of words. You type or paste the words, choose a grid size, and the tool places them in a square grid and fills the spare squares with random letters. Everything runs in your browser, so you do not need an account, and your words are not sent to a server or stored. Teachers can use it to make a word search for a lesson, and parents can use it to make one for kids. Press the button again to get a new arrangement of the same words, then print the puzzle or an answer key where the words are shaded.
How to use the Word Search Maker
- Type a title in the Puzzle Title box, or keep the default, My Word Search. The title can be up to 60 characters.
- Enter your words in the Words box. Put one word on each line, or separate them with commas or semicolons. Each word needs at least 3 letters. To start with a ready-made list, click Load Sample Words, which restores 10 space words.
- Pick a size from the Grid Size selector: 10, 12, 15 (the default), 18 or 20 squares per side.
- Tick or untick Backwards words and Diagonal words. Both are ticked by default.
- Click Make Word Search. The tool places the words and fills every other square with random letters.
- Read the status line. If it says a word was not placed, try a larger grid or fewer words.
- Tick Show answers to highlight the hidden words in the grid. Untick it before you print the puzzle.
Print Puzzle prints exactly what is on screen, so untick Show answers first or the shaded words will print too. It prints a sheet with your title, a Name/Date line, the letter grid and a Words to Find list that shows only the placed words. Print Answer Key prints the same sheet with the words shaded. Both use your browser’s print dialog.
How do I make a word search puzzle?
A word search is a grid of letters with a list of hidden words. The solver finds each word running in a straight line, and the words can share letters where they cross. The Word Search Maker does the placing for you: it puts each word in a straight line, then fills the remaining squares with random letters so the words are harder to spot.
What grid size should I choose?
Choose the smallest grid that fits your words comfortably. The tool offers 10, 12, 15 (the default), 18 and 20 squares per side, and the grid is always square. In our test runs, the 10 space words placed 9.6 out of 10 on average in a 10x10 grid, and all 10 fit in a 12x12 or 15x15 grid. A 15x15 grid is a good starting point for most lists.
How many words can I put in a word search?
The tool uses up to 30 words, and repeated words are used only once. The number that fits depends on the grid. In our test runs, 30 short animal words placed 25 of 30 on average in a 10x10 grid and all 30 in a 15x15 grid. If you want more words, move up one grid size.
How do I make a word search easier or harder?
Difficulty depends on the grid size, the number of words, the word length, and whether backwards and diagonal words are allowed. For an easier puzzle, use fewer and shorter words in a smaller grid. For a harder one, use more words, longer words in a bigger grid, and keep both boxes ticked.
Can I turn off backwards and diagonal words (no backwards, no diagonal)?
Yes. Both boxes are ticked by default, and you can untick either one. With both ticked, words can run in all 8 directions. Unticking Diagonal words leaves only across and down. With Backwards words ticked, about 3 words in 10 are written backwards across 200 test grids. Unticking both boxes makes every word read left to right or top to bottom, which is the gentler version for young solvers.
Why was one of my words not placed?
There are two causes. A word longer than the grid size is dropped before the grid is built, and no message appears. A word that fits the grid size but does not find room is listed as Not placed in the status line and left out of the Words to Find list. In that case, choose a larger grid or remove some words.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free printable word search generator?
Yes. The Word Search Maker is free and runs in your browser. Click Print Puzzle to print the sheet, or Print Answer Key to print the answers.
Can I make a word search with a hidden message?
No. The tool does not support a hidden message or a leftover-letter message. The leftover squares are filled with random letters.
Can I save a word search as a PDF?
Yes. Click Print Puzzle, then choose Save as PDF in your browser’s print dialog. The tool has no separate PDF download button.
Can I use the word search maker for the classroom and for kids?
Yes, for both. Teachers can set the title, word list and grid size for a lesson. For younger solvers, untick both Backwards words and Diagonal words so every word reads forwards.
Is it free and does it need a sign-up, and are my words uploaded?
The tool is free and needs no sign-up. Everything runs in your browser, and your words are not sent to a server, stored or limited.
Does the word search maker support other languages or extra features?
It keeps only the letters A to Z, so accented and non-English letters are removed. It also does not offer word shapes, custom fonts, clues or pictures instead of words, non-square grids, puzzle saving, or a play-online mode.
Related tools
- Crossword Maker: use it when you want a full crossword built from clues.
- Mini Crossword Maker: use it for a small, quick crossword.
- Criss-Cross Puzzle Maker: use it to build a puzzle where the words cross each other.
- Word Ladder Maker: use it to make a puzzle that changes one word into another one letter at a time.
- Cryptogram Maker: use it to make a coded message puzzle where each letter is replaced by another.
- Word Finder: use it to find words that match letters or a pattern you already have.
- Hangman: use it to play a word-guessing game in your browser.
- Random Word Generator: use it when you need random words to put into your word list.
About word search puzzles
A word search, word find, word seek, word sleuth or mystery word puzzle is a word game that consists of the letters of words placed in a grid, which usually has a rectangular or square shape. The objective of this puzzle is to find and mark all the words hidden inside the box. The words may be placed horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Often a list of the hidden words is provided, but more challenging puzzles may not provide a list. Many word search puzzles have a theme to which all the hidden words are related, such as food, animals, or colors. Like crosswords, these puzzles have become very popular and have had complete books and mobile applications devoted to them.
Strategies
A common strategy for finding all the words is to go through the puzzle left to right (or right to left) and look for the first letter of each word (if a word list is provided). After finding the letter, one should look at the eight surrounding letters to see whether the next letter of the word is there. One can then continue this method until the entire word is found.
Another strategy is to look for 'outstanding' letters within the word one is searching for (if a word list is provided). Since most word searches use capital letters, it is easiest to spot the letters that stand out from others. These letters include Q, J, X, and Z.
In some languages, a strategy is to look for letters with diacritics. This is helpful if a word list is provided.
Lastly, the strategy of looking for double letters in the word being searched for (if a word list is provided) proves helpful, because it is easier to spot two identical letters side-by-side than to search for two different letters.
If a word list is not provided, a way to find words is to go row by row. First, all the horizontal rows should be read both backwards and forwards, then the vertical, and so on. Sometimes the puzzle itself will help. The puzzles generated by a computer tend to put words in patterns. Furthermore, the bigger the words and the more words, the easier they are to spot. In some computer-generated puzzles, if the person solving the puzzle sees one word, all they have to do to find more is to look in adjacent rows, columns, or diagonals. The puzzle might use every row, column, or diagonal—or just every other row, column, or diagonal.
History
The word search puzzle (also known as WordSeek, WordFind, WonderWord, etc.) was originally designed and published by Norman E. Gibat in the Selenby Digest on March 1, 1968, in Norman, Oklahoma, although the Spanish puzzle creator Pedro Ocón de Oro was publishing "Sopas de letras" (Spanish "Soup of Letters") before that date.There is a very likely possibility James Patrick Carr of Villa Grove, Illinois created this puzzle before 1968. Pat Carr had titled the puzzles "Slate R Straight" and was stolen by a copyright/patent company he sent the puzzle idea to. There is proof predating Gibats 1968 of PC's puzzles in Villa Grove High School sporting event brochures.
The puzzle was very popular locally and several more followed this original. Some teachers in the Norman schools asked for reprints to use in their classes. One teacher sent them around the country to various friends in other schools. Undoubtedly one of these scattered copies eventually led somebody to sell the idea to a syndicator.
With increasing popularity word search games where transformed into digital versions. The transition from print media to digital platforms fundamentally transformed the production and consumption of word search puzzles, moving from hand-crafted grids to procedural generation. Modern software utilizes backtracking algorithms, often prioritizing the placement of the longest words first to minimize grid conflicts, to instantly generate unique puzzles based on categorized word lists. Since then word search puzzles have been popular on the internet with Facebook games such as the 2013 Letters of Gold. Other digital and tabletop word search mobile games include Boggle, Bookworm, Letterpress, Ruzzle, Wonderword, Wordament, WordSpot and Word Streak with Friends.
The mid-70s CBS game show "Now You See It" was a made-for-TV adaptation of a word search puzzle. Those app versions of the game are the reason why it is still one of the leading type of games in App Stores. Parallel to the app market, the genre is widely distributed as a browser-based application on casual web portals, such as CrazyGames, which utilize these algorithms to deliver instant, cross-platform gameplay without installation.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article “Word search” (revision 1341936976, 2026-03-06), authors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Shortened: some sections and paragraphs were left out, and reference markers, images and templates were removed; wording is otherwise unchanged. This text remains available under the same licence.