12 puzzles · all free to play and print
Plate Tectonics Word Search
Free Plate Tectonics word search puzzles to print or play online.
Play online or print
Layers of the Earth
8 words to find
- CRUST
- MANTLE
- CORE
- EARTH
- HOT
- ROCK
- DEEP
- LAYER
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 12 Plate Tectonics puzzles stay free here. Want them as one printable booklet?
12 printable Plate Tectonics word search puzzles
twelve puzzles in three levels. Easy puzzles are 10 by 10 grids with eight words across and down, medium puzzles are 13 by 13 grids with twelve words and diagonals, and hard puzzles are 16 by 16 grids with eighteen words in every direction, backwards too. Sub-themes include layers of the Earth, plate boundaries, earthquake science and continental drift. Every puzzle has an answer key and prints on US Letter or A4. Every one of these 12 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 4 puzzles
Medium: across, down and diagonal 4 puzzles
Hard: every direction, backwards too 4 puzzles
Optional · all in one file
Want all 12 in one booklet?
You do not need it: every Plate Tectonics puzzle above is free to play and to download one by one. The booklet is only for printing them all at once, a 26-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 Plate Tectonics word searches
Use the easy puzzles in a 2nd or 3rd grade lesson on volcanoes and earthquakes. Earth science teachers can hand out the medium puzzles at the start of a unit on plate boundaries or as a sub plan, and the hard puzzles work as review for high school geology and AP Environmental Science. Each PDF has the puzzle on page 1 and the answer key on page 2.
Make your own Plate Tectonics word search
Add your own words, a name or a class list to these plate tectonics words and pick a level. The preview is free; the printable PDF with its answer key is $1.99.
Good to know about Plate Tectonics word search
Every Plate Tectonics 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 12 puzzles bundled into one print-ready file, costs money.
Plate Boundaries covers convergent, divergent, transform, subduction and trench, and Inside the Earth covers lithosphere, crust, Moho and the cores. Together they match the vocabulary of most middle school Earth science units.
Drift and Discovery lists Wegener, Pangaea, Gondwana, Laurasia, Rodinia, seafloor and paleomagnetism terms, plus Hess, Vine and Matthews, who helped turn drift into plate tectonics.
Plates and Hotspots (hard) names the Pacific, North American, South American, Eurasian, African, Antarctic, Indo Australian, Nazca and Cocos plates, along with hotspots such as Yellowstone, Reunion, the Azores and the Galapagos.
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.