How to make a word search
- Add words: enter one per line or load a topic starter.
- Choose difficulty: use a preset or select exact directions.
- Create and export: check the placement report, then print or download the puzzle and answer key.
Worked example: For planet, orbit, moon, comet, rocket, choose Medium, a 12×12 grid, and right, down and forward diagonals. This leaves enough space without introducing reversed words.
Grid size and grade guidance
| Level | Suggested setup | Word count |
|---|---|---|
| Early readers | 8–10 grid; right and down | 5–8 short words |
| Upper elementary | 12–16 grid; add diagonals | 8–16 words |
| Older students/adults | 16–22 grid; all directions | 15–30 words |
What changes difficulty?
A larger grid creates more places to search. Diagonals require scanning across rows and columns. Left, up and upward diagonals make the word read in the reverse direction, so they are the strongest difficulty increase. Longer word lists make the grid denser. Use individual switches when a preset is not quite right.
Classroom examples include weekly spelling, science vocabulary, geography place names, sight words and lesson review. Keep early-reader lists short and use familiar terms.
Input limits and skipped words
The maker accepts 64 unique entries and grids from 6×6 to 26×26. Phrases lose spaces, hyphens and apostrophes in the grid; accented Latin letters become their base letters. The word report never hides an omission: it labels duplicates, unsupported characters, over-limit entries, words that are too long and words that could not be placed.
Troubleshooting: choose Resize to fit all words, remove the longest entry, enable more directions, or create again with a new seed. A dense list may still need a larger grid.
How this generator works and its limits
Each accepted entry is normalized to A–Z, then longer words are placed first using only the directions you selected. Up to 800 seeded placement attempts are made per word. Empty cells receive seeded random letters. The same custom seed, words and settings reproduce the same puzzle.
Random filler can accidentally form extra words, and the optional filter only reduces a small list of common inappropriate strings across horizontal and vertical lines—it is not a complete content-safety system. Proofread every worksheet before giving it to students. Share links contain the words and settings in the URL; PDF generation and ordinary puzzle creation stay entirely in the browser.