18 puzzles · all free to play and print
Insects Word Search
Free Insects word search puzzles to print or play online.
Play online or print
Garden Bugs
8 words to find
- ANT
- GNAT
- FLY
- MOTH
- WASP
- BEETLE
- LADYBUG
- CRICKET
Drag from the first to the last letter of a word, or tap the first letter and then the last. The PDF has the puzzle on page 1 and the answer key on page 2.
All 18 Insects puzzles stay free here. Want them as one printable booklet?
All 18 Insects word search puzzles
eighteen puzzles in three levels: easy 10 by 10 grids with eight words across and down, medium 13 by 13 with twelve words and diagonals, hard 16 by 16 with eighteen words in every direction, backwards too. Words cover bees, beetles, butterflies and the science of bugs. Themes include Butterfly Garden, Bee Hive, Bees Wasps and Ants and Record Breakers. Every puzzle has an answer key and prints on US Letter or A4. Every one of these 18 puzzles is free: play it online above or print its PDF, with the answer key on page 2. No account, no email.
Easy: across and down 6 puzzles
Medium: across, down and diagonal 6 puzzles
Hard: every direction, backwards too 6 puzzles
Optional · all in one file
Want all 18 in one booklet?
You do not need it: every Insects puzzle above is free to play and to download one by one. The booklet is only for printing them all at once, a 38-page PDF with a cover, a contents page and the answer keys at the back. Buying it also keeps this site free for everyone.
One-time payment, secure checkout with Stripe. US Letter and A4 PDFs, the download link arrives by email.
How to use these Insects word searches
Use the easy puzzles as a science center activity before a bug hunt, or print a few for a backyard nature day. Teachers can pair the life cycle puzzle with a lesson on metamorphosis. Older students and bug fans can try the insect orders and entomology tools grids on their own. Each PDF has the puzzle on page 1 and the answer key on page 2.
Make your own Insects word search
Add your own words, a name or a class list to these insects words and pick a level. The preview is free; the printable PDF with its answer key is $1.99.
Good to know about Insects word search
Every Insects puzzle on this page is free to play online and free to print as a PDF with its answer key, one by one. Only the optional booklet, all 18 puzzles bundled into one print-ready file, costs money.
Spiders are arachnids, not insects. Insects have six legs and three body parts, while spiders have eight legs and two. These puzzles stick to true insects, so you will not find spiders, centipedes or snails.
Try Garden Bugs, Bee Hive or Insect Parts. They use short words like moth, wasp, hive and head in a 10 by 10 grid with words only across and down.
The hard puzzles cover the insect orders such as Coleoptera and Lepidoptera, historical naturalists, insect anatomy, record breakers and the tools entomologists use. Words run up to fifteen letters.
Easy puzzles (10 by 10, words across and down) work from about age 6. Medium puzzles (13 by 13, diagonals added) suit ages 8 to 11. Hard puzzles (16 by 16, every direction, backwards too) are for older kids and adults.
Page 2 of every PDF is the answer key, with each word marked where it hides. When you play online, the Show answers button marks them on the grid.
Every puzzle comes as a US Letter PDF (8.5 by 11 inches) and an A4 PDF (210 by 297 mm). Print at 100% or Actual size.
Every puzzle on this page plays in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer: drag or tap from the first to the last letter of a word. Nothing to install and no account.
Print as many copies as you need for your home, classroom, church group or care home. Please link to this page instead of uploading the files elsewhere.