Word Search Generator

How to use

1. 1Paste your words into the input on the left, one per line. Letters only; spaces and punctuation are removed automatically so two-word entries become one token.
2. 2Set a worksheet title and pick the grid size. Leave Auto on for a size that always fits your longest word, or set a fixed size between 8x8 and 25x25.
3. 3Choose a letter case (UPPER for kids, lower for primers, Title for newspaper-style) and tick the direction toggles. Horizontal and Vertical only for easy; add Diagonal and Backwards for hard.
4. 4Click Generate puzzle. The grid renders with hidden words and a Find these words list under it. Each click reshuffles to a fresh layout.
5. 5Tap Show answers to highlight the placed words and reveal the row, column, and direction. Tap again to hide before handing it out.
6. 6Print sends a clean black-on-white worksheet to your printer. Download SVG saves a vector copy. Copy as text writes a plain-text grid you can paste anywhere.

About this tool

Word Search Generator builds a printable word search puzzle from any list of words you paste in. Type or paste one word per line in the input, optionally set a title for the worksheet, and click Generate to lay the words into a square letter grid. Each word is placed at a random valid position and direction; the empty cells are filled with random uppercase letters drawn uniformly from A through Z using crypto.getRandomValues, so no two generations are alike. You decide how hard the puzzle should be by toggling four direction options: Horizontal (left to right), Vertical (top to bottom), Diagonal (top-left to bottom-right and top-right to bottom-left), and Backwards (the reverse of every enabled direction). Beginner and kindergarten puzzles usually keep just Horizontal and Vertical on; classroom and ESL worksheets often add Diagonal; harder adult puzzles enable Backwards too. The grid size can be set manually anywhere from 8x8 to 25x25 or left on Auto, which picks a size based on your longest word so there is always room for the hardest placement. Letter case has three options (UPPER, lower, and Title) so the worksheet matches your audience: preschool printables that emphasize uppercase recognition, mixed-case worksheets for ESL learners, or Title-cased layouts that feel like newspaper puzzles. Words may share letters at crossing points, so a 12-letter word can intersect a 6-letter word at a shared letter without breaking either one. When the placement algorithm cannot fit a word after many random tries (most often because the grid is small or the directions are too restrictive), the tool reports exactly which words were skipped and suggests a larger grid or more directions. Toggle Show answers to highlight every placed word inside the grid and reveal the row, column, and direction for each one as an answer key. Print sends the puzzle straight to your printer with a dedicated stylesheet that hides every control, swaps to black on white, and lays everything out at A4 / Letter scale. Download SVG writes a vector copy of the puzzle (grid + word list) ready for any printer, e-reader, or for pasting into a worksheet template. Copy as text writes a plain ASCII version of the grid and word list that is easy to share over chat, email, or paste into a Google Doc. Useful for elementary and middle-school teachers, homeschool parents, ESL instructors, Sunday school leaders, birthday-party hosts, summer-camp counselors, hospice and senior-center activity leaders, escape-room designers, themed-event planners, baby shower games, classroom warm-ups, vocabulary review sheets, and printable filler for newsletters. Everything runs locally in your browser; the words you type and the puzzles you generate never leave your device.

Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.