Is an avocado a fruit or a vegetable?

Botanically it is a fruit, because it grows from a flower and contains a seed. In the kitchen it is usually used like a vegetable.

Where does honey come from?

Bees make honey from flower nectar, which they collect, process and store in their hive.

Does this page have fruit and vegetable puzzles?

They have their own pages. This one keeps to prepared foods such as pizza, noodles and waffles.

How do I make a word search of my favorite foods?

Type the foods into the word box, one per line, pick a grid size and press Generate puzzle. Print it with an answer key if you want one.

Free · No sign-up · 24 ready-made topics

Food Word Search

A food word search with 10 words, from pizza to honey, plus two fixed printable puzzles: simple meals and snacks for beginners, and a 15 x 15 challenge of 16 dishes from around the world.

Words (one per line, or comma separated)

Or start from a topic:

Grid size

Difficulty

Puzzle title

Subtitle (optional)

Two printable food puzzles

These two puzzles are fixed: the grid is the same every time, so you can print identical sheets for a class or a party. Each has a word list, a Show answers button, a Print button and a printable answer key. Download both as a PDF (with answer keys)

Food Word Search 1: Everyday Foods

Easy 10 x 10 grid · 8 words · 3 to 5 letters

A 10 x 10 puzzle for beginners. Eight short words, hidden across, down and diagonally down to the right only.

Name: ____________________ Date: ______________

MUJRBCONTMZOHIERFLESEFLCAKEPQFGUPENTOASTGDEAOGISDLOTSOUPETTPPEGUTCZAALFSSFBRTOGCSAULZLOYPDNMGIJTWJOB

BEANBREADCAKEEGGPASTARICESOUPTOAST

Food Word Search 1: Everyday Foods: answer key

MUJRBCONTMZOHIERFLESEFLCAKEPQFGUPENTOASTGDEAOGISDLOTSOUPETTPPEGUTCZAALFSSFBRTOGCSAULZLOYPDNMGIJTWJOB

BEAN: row 1, column 5, down
BREAD: row 1, column 5, diagonally down and to the right
CAKE: row 3, column 4, across to the right
EGG: row 3, column 1, down
PASTA: row 3, column 8, down
RICE: row 1, column 4, down
SOUP: row 6, column 3, across to the right
TOAST: row 4, column 6, across to the right

Food Word Search 2: Food Challenge

Hard 15 x 15 grid · 16 words · 6 to 9 letters · 13 hidden backwards or upwards

A 15 x 15 puzzle with sixteen longer words, hidden in every direction, including backwards and up.

Name: ____________________ Date: ______________

DRATSUCURMILABQSAUSAGETCITOPLUPEMEDZORAATCIMNEGDIRROPOOEJRLIYBNZTIGOTIHEXBFYEHISTMLIXGIESFHOLSREILPRABHAUALAULZTAUAPUUNMANGEEUNBOOSLMDLTOTGWCMTUTAAMWBYTHTAAAAINIFDIFERPKHQHEEFPRFCGEPEIHTAMVITERHRHSTFOGNILPMUDUUVGLASAGNADAELDB

BURRITOCROISSANTCUSTARDDUMPLINGHAMBURGERLASAGNAMEATBALLMUFFINOMELETTEPANCAKESPORRIDGESANDWICHSAUSAGESPAGHETTITORTILLAYOGURT

Food Word Search 2: Food Challenge: answer key

BURRITO: row 15, column 15, diagonally up and to the left
CROISSANT: row 2, column 9, diagonally down and to the left
CUSTARD: row 1, column 7, across to the left
DUMPLING: row 14, column 13, across to the left
HAMBURGER: row 12, column 5, diagonally up and to the right
LASAGNA: row 15, column 3, across to the right
MEATBALL: row 13, column 8, up
MUFFIN: row 8, column 15, up
OMELETTE: row 5, column 8, diagonally down and to the left
PANCAKES: row 7, column 9, diagonally down and to the left
PORRIDGE: row 4, column 8, across to the left
SANDWICH: row 6, column 14, down
SAUSAGE: row 2, column 1, across to the right
SPAGHETTI: row 9, column 11, up
TORTILLA: row 2, column 8, diagonally down and to the left
YOGURT: row 11, column 1, diagonally up and to the right

About this food word search

Food is a topic every solver understands, which makes it one of the friendliest word search themes. The default list is a snack-table of mixed foods: pizza, mango, noodle, cheese, bacon, waffle, pretzel, avocado, ginger and honey. They come from different food groups and different cuisines, so the list works for a lesson on healthy eating as easily as for a party.

The easy puzzle keeps to everyday basics such as soup, rice, bread and cake. The challenge puzzle moves to named dishes and longer words such as spaghetti, croissant, burrito and omelette, many of which come from other languages, which makes it a useful puzzle for a lesson on world food or for English learners meeting new vocabulary.

Fruit and vegetables each have their own page with their own printable puzzles, so this one keeps to prepared and packaged foods. If you want a more specific list, try breakfast foods, foods from one country, or the contents of a lunchbox, and use the generator to build it.

Word notes

Pizza: a baked flatbread with toppings, from Italy.
Noodle: dough rolled thin and cut into strips, eaten in many countries.
Waffle: a batter cooked in a patterned iron, giving it a grid of small squares.
Pretzel: a baked bread, often twisted into a knot and sprinkled with salt.
Avocado: a fruit with creamy flesh, often used as if it were a vegetable.
Ginger: the underground stem of a plant, used fresh or dried as a spice.
Honey: a sweet food that bees make from flower nectar.

Vocabulary tip

Several words here appear in other languages or in other forms, such as the 'noodle' of ramen and pad thai. Ask students which foods they already know by another name.

Difficulty guide

Generator (default list). The 10 words run from 5 letters (pizza, mango, bacon and honey) to 7 letters (pretzel and avocado), 5.8 letters on average and 58 letters in all, which fills about 30% of the default 14 x 14 grid. On the default Medium setting, words can run in five directions. Choose Easy for across, down and diagonal-right only, or Hard to add backwards and upwards.
Easy puzzle. 8 words of 3 to 5 letters in a 10 x 10 grid, with nothing hidden backwards or upwards.
Challenge puzzle. 16 words of 6 to 9 letters in a 15 x 15 grid, with 13 of them hidden backwards or upwards. The challenge puzzle's hardest words are the long, unfamiliar spellings: spaghetti, croissant and omelette hold patterns that look like other words in the grid.

Ways to use it

Ask students to circle the foods they have eaten this week, then add one that is not on the list.
At a party, assign each guest one word: find it, then say how they like to eat it.
To use your own list, edit the words in the box at the top of the page and press Generate puzzle, or press New layout, same words for a fresh grid. Print it with Show answers ticked to add a separate answer page.

Is an avocado a fruit or a vegetable?: Botanically it is a fruit, because it grows from a flower and contains a seed. In the kitchen it is usually used like a vegetable.
Where does honey come from?: Bees make honey from flower nectar, which they collect, process and store in their hive.
Does this page have fruit and vegetable puzzles?: They have their own pages. This one keeps to prepared foods such as pizza, noodles and waffles.
How do I make a word search of my favorite foods?: Type the foods into the word box, one per line, pick a grid size and press Generate puzzle. Print it with an answer key if you want one.