Botanically, yes: a banana is a berry. In everyday language berries are small round fruits, so most people do not count it.

Which fruits in the default puzzle have a stone?

Cherry and peach. A stone, or pit, is the hard seed case in the middle of the fruit.

How many berries are in the challenge puzzle?

Five names end in -berry: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry and cranberry.

Can I make a word search from my own fruit list?

Yes. Type your fruit names into the word box, one per line, then press Generate puzzle. Print with an answer key if you want one.

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Fruit Word Search

A fruit word search with 10 fruits, from apple to kiwi, plus two fixed printable puzzles: eight short fruit names for beginners and a 15 x 15 challenge of 16 longer ones, including five kinds of berry.

Words (one per line, or comma separated)

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Difficulty

Puzzle title

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Two printable fruit 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)

Fruit Word Search 1: Fruit Basket

Easy 10 x 10 grid · 8 words · 3 to 6 letters

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

Name: ____________________ Date: ______________

GUAVAABVMRIBIUMLEEVDCIIAEYRDASITGEOCRHBFFIODNHYFJNLIIANEAPSGFUGTGEFEUXLIMEYVAAOZIGPLUMORBCPSULUFPAAW

BERRYDATEFIGGUAVALIMELYCHEEPEARPLUM

Fruit Word Search 1: Fruit Basket: answer key

GUAVAABVMRIBIUMLEEVDCIIAEYRDASITGEOCRHBFFIODNHYFJNLIIANEAPSGFUGTGEFEUXLIMEYVAAOZIGPLUMORBCPSULUFPAAW

BERRY: row 1, column 7, down
DATE: row 5, column 4, down
FIG: row 5, column 1, diagonally down and to the right
GUAVA: row 1, column 1, across to the right
LIME: row 8, column 1, across to the right
LYCHEE: row 2, column 6, down
PEAR: row 6, column 8, down
PLUM: row 9, column 3, across to the right

Fruit Word Search 2: Fruit Challenge

Hard 15 x 15 grid · 16 words · 7 to 11 letters · 7 hidden backwards or upwards

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

Name: ____________________ Date: ______________

LMDOFNECTARINEEFAMPPERSIMMONLTPURRFNGBUMNGDDFOBPCAIBLREYNWRTMYIRPRLUFIRTWRPERNAREAENCRYTECGRENIGCBOYECUAIREABCNKEGIBPNUOABPEOABRADWTOOINPPRTTERRWAGCGTASLRTIRYDLRUOZQTAEYIERAOYTCCFLERLPIUYUNOSFIKWBROGRAPEFRUITIANFNOLEMRETAWAVC

APRICOTBLACKBERRYBLUEBERRYCANTALOUPECOCONUTCRANBERRYDRAGONFRUITGRAPEFRUITNECTARINEPERSIMMONPINEAPPLEPOMEGRANATERASPBERRYSTRAWBERRYTANGERINEWATERMELON

Fruit Word Search 2: Fruit Challenge: answer key

APRICOT: row 4, column 5, down
BLACKBERRY: row 4, column 7, down
BLUEBERRY: row 3, column 8, down
CANTALOUPE: row 6, column 15, diagonally down and to the left
COCONUT: row 12, column 13, up
CRANBERRY: row 4, column 4, down
DRAGONFRUIT: row 11, column 9, up
GRAPEFRUIT: row 14, column 4, across to the right
NECTARINE: row 1, column 6, across to the right
PERSIMMON: row 2, column 5, across to the right
PINEAPPLE: row 4, column 3, down
POMEGRANATE: row 3, column 1, down
RASPBERRY: row 13, column 2, up
STRAWBERRY: row 13, column 11, up
TANGERINE: row 10, column 6, up
WATERMELON: row 15, column 12, across to the left

About this fruit word search

Fruit is one of the first food groups children learn to name, and the words are short enough to make a good early word search. The default list is a classic bowl: apple, banana, orange, grape, cherry, peach, lemon, melon, papaya and kiwi. The names are familiar, but the list also gives you a reason to talk about where fruit grows, from orchard trees to tropical plants.

The easy puzzle uses eight shorter names, pear, plum, lime, date, fig, guava, berry and lychee. The challenge puzzle is longer and has a berry theme running through it: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry and cranberry all end in the same five letters, so solvers have to read each word in full. Other entries, such as pomegranate, persimmon and dragonfruit, are fruits many students will not have eaten, which sparks conversation.

For a science lesson, ask students to circle the fruits with a stone (cherry, peach), the citrus fruits (orange, lemon) and the tropical ones (banana, papaya, kiwi). For a food lesson, build a puzzle with the generator from the fruit in a local market or a school snack program.

Word notes

Banana: a long curved fruit that grows in hanging clusters on a large plant.
Orange: a citrus fruit; the color orange is named after it.
Cherry: a small round fruit with a single hard stone inside.
Peach: a fuzzy-skinned fruit with a large stone.
Papaya: a tropical fruit with orange flesh and many black seeds.
Kiwi: a green-fleshed fruit with a brown, fuzzy skin, also called kiwifruit.
Melon: a large fruit with sweet flesh that grows on a vine.

Vocabulary tip

Fruit and vegetable are everyday terms, but in botany a fruit is the part of a plant that holds the seeds. That is why tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are fruits too, which makes a fun puzzle for older students: which words on the vegetables page are really fruits?

Difficulty guide

Generator (default list). The 10 words run from 4 letters (kiwi) to 6 letters (banana, orange, cherry and papaya), 5.3 letters on average and 53 letters in all, which fills about 27% 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 6 letters in a 10 x 10 grid, with nothing hidden backwards or upwards.
Challenge puzzle. 16 words of 7 to 11 letters in a 15 x 15 grid, with 7 of them hidden backwards or upwards. The five -berry words in the challenge (blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry and cranberry) are the main trap, since they differ only in the first few letters.

Ways to use it

Ask students to sort the fruits by color, then by size, then by where they grow.
Run a taste-test day: find a word, then try that fruit.
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 a banana a berry?: Botanically, yes: a banana is a berry. In everyday language berries are small round fruits, so most people do not count it.
Which fruits in the default puzzle have a stone?: Cherry and peach. A stone, or pit, is the hard seed case in the middle of the fruit.
How many berries are in the challenge puzzle?: Five names end in -berry: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, blackberry and cranberry.
Can I make a word search from my own fruit list?: Yes. Type your fruit names into the word box, one per line, then press Generate puzzle. Print with an answer key if you want one.