About

Free Word Searches publishes 12,368 printable word searches across 65 categories. The oldest puzzle here was made in February 2011, and between them they have been opened more than 36 million times.

What it is for

Most people arrive from a search for one specific thing — the scientific method, medical terminology, Romeo and Juliet, Spanish verbs — and they want it on paper quickly. So the shortest path on this site is from a search result to a printed sheet. There is no account, no sign-up, no watermark and no download step. Every puzzle prints as two pages: the student sheet, and a separate answer key for whoever is marking it.

Anyone can add one

The word search maker is free and needs no account. Type a list of words, watch the grid build as you type, and publish. A puzzle you make goes live immediately and is public, which is how the library got this large.

It is worth being plain about what that means. Submissions are checked by a word blocklist, a rate limit and a trap for automated posting — but nothing is read by a person before it appears. If you find something here that should not be, tell us and it will be taken down.

How it pays for itself

Advertising, through Google AdSense. That is the whole business model: the puzzles are free because the pages carry ads. It also means the ads are designed into the layout rather than dropped on top of it, and the space they occupy is reserved before they load so nothing jumps under your cursor while the page is settling.

What advertising means for your data is set out in the privacy policy.