Make Your Own Word Search Puzzle

Discovery PuzzleMaker

Discovery Puzzlemaker helps you to make word search puzzles in 6 easy steps.

The puzzle can be 40 letters by 40 letters large and still fit on a page, but they recommend using 15 letters by 15 letters. You also can adjust the difficulty level by sharing letters as often or as infrequently as possible.

When finished, you can create the word search puzzle as HTML, uppercase text, or lowercase text.

A to Z Teacher Stuff

This site offers quite a few options for customization.

You can set the placement of the word list on the right or the left side of the puzzle, determine the numbers of rows and columns (up to 50), and set the style of the grid and font. You also can choose the word placement, including forward and backward words, to make the word search puzzle easier or more challenging.

The finished product is a nice looking puzzle that even has a place for a name and date.

PuzzleFast

PuzzleFast is so easy to use you can make a word search in just a few minutes, and the answer sheet is printed out right along with the puzzle.

The site also offers tools to make crosswords, word jumbles, number searches, and matching worksheets.

SuperKids

SuperKids requires you to enter your words, choose a grid height and width, and decide whether you want to have an easy puzzle or a hard one that will put some of the words backward throughout the puzzle.

The final puzzle looks very nice and is great for kids or adults to complete. ​There's a name and date section at the top.

ProProfs

ProProfs generates a word search puzzle to be completed online instead of being printed.

You get to input the words for the puzzle, the title, a description, and keywords. You'll also choose a difficulty level and the maximum time a user has to complete the puzzle, ranging from 5 to 60 minutes.

ProProfs also offers the uncommon option to fetch words from a web page instead of entering your own. Just enter a URL and the puzzle will be populated with words taken from that page.

You'll have to register with ProProfs before you can build a word search puzzle, but doing so is completely free.

EdCreate

EdCreate.com is super easy to use.

Simply enter a page title for the puzzle, the number of rows and columns of letters, the directions you want the words to go (like diagonally, sideways, etc.), whether you want the words uppercase or lowercase, and the words you want to be included in the final puzzle.

The puzzle that's generated after you choose your options looks great and is great to use in the classroom or just for fun.

Fun Brain

This word search maker is very easy to use and gives you a nice looking puzzle both online and offline.

Before you enter your words, you get to pick from four levels of difficulty, each with support for a different number of words and different maximum word lengths.

Tools for Educators

A nice feature for this word search maker is that you can have the hint be something other than the word in the puzzle to make it more challenging.

You also get to choose whether you want the puzzle to be uppercase or lowercase, if it should include diagonal words or not, the type of font to use, and the grid size.

Puzzle-Maker

This is a no-frills word search maker where you only have to enter your words in the text area and then choose how many letters you want in the columns and the rows of the puzzle. You can select up to 50 for either.

The final puzzle is simple but has nice even rows and columns making it easy on the eyes.

PedagoNet

Several options here allow you to create a truly customized puzzle.

The words you enter can be separated by commas, spaces, or line, so it's easy to paste a chunk of words into the site to be used with your puzzle.

The maximum number of rows and columns is 100, and you can change the font size and background color. Another option allows you to pick several random words from your list instead of using all of them.

Another option is the ability to choose the precise way the words are positioned in the puzzle, like forward and backward, diagonal, or up and down. Plus, you can hide the word list from the puzzle.

Super Teacher Worksheets

One last word search maker you may like is from Super Teacher Worksheets. It's easy to set up and the options don't cause any confusion.

Start by choosing a difficulty level to immediately change some of the options, like the maximum word lengths and the grid size. Then pick a title and creator name before you enter the words that should be used in the puzzle.

One option lets you alphabetize the word list. Another adds different worksheet headers to the game, like a name only or a name plus the date or class period.

When finished building the puzzle, you're given a few pages to print off, including the answer key and the game itself.