Word Search for 4th Graders Printable, with No Backwards Words

Word search puzzles for 4th graders: 15 words on a 14 by 14 grid, none backwards, with the answer key.

Name Date

4th Grade Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across, down and diagonally.

0 of 15 words found

RHENERGYVHBCTW

VEBNHABITATNFE

BRTASDDEHJEZDA

GAHURRICANENST

JWFSICJSIPEOYH

VAEFEAETCGCMME

SRDERMNLEONWMR

KSIUKOALEOVTEM

EUOICUNOICWETW

LTYBEFNTFTTORT

ESMAULCEIRTRYP

TWHMEASURESRIT

OVOLRGOMBDRSBC

NNYFAELJOURNEY

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

MeasureMEASURE
WeatherWEATHER
DiscoverDISCOVER
LegendLEGEND
FractionFRACTION
SymmetrySYMMETRY
EnergyENERGY
ElectricELECTRIC
HabitatHABITAT
CamouflageCAMOUFLAGE
SkeletonSKELETON
HurricaneHURRICANE
ContinentCONTINENT
JourneyJOURNEY
FrontierFRONTIER

15 of 27 words from the 4th Grade list.

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Medium: words go across, down and diagonally.

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Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

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Answer key: 4th Grade Word Search

RHENERGYVHBCTW

VEBNHABITATNFE

BRTASDDEHJEZDA

GAHURRICANENST

JWFSICJSIPEOYH

VAEFEAETCGCMME

SRDERMNLEONWMR

KSIUKOALEOVTEM

EUOICUNOICWETW

LTYBEFNTFTTORT

ESMAULCEIRTRYP

TWHMEASURESRIT

OVOLRGOMBDRSBC

NNYFAELJOURNEY

MEASURE, WEATHER, DISCOVER, LEGEND, FRACTION, SYMMETRY, ENERGY, ELECTRIC, HABITAT, CAMOUFLAGE, SKELETON, HURRICANE, CONTINENT, JOURNEY, FRONTIER

Next step Make a puzzle from your own unit's words Print a 4th grade crossword with synonym clues

All 259 words

4th Grade Spelling 38

Adventurous Eager to try new and risky things.
Agreement A shared decision. Agree plus ment keeps the double e.
Carefully With close attention. Care plus ful plus ly gives a double l.
Collection A group of things gathered over time, such as stamps or coins.
Dangerous Able to cause harm. Danger plus ous.
Darkness Having no light. The suffix ness turns dark into a noun.
Disagree Have a different opinion. The prefix dis means not.
Discover Find something for the first time.
Dishonest Not truthful. After dis comes a silent h.
Famous Known by many people. It ends in ous.
Fearless Brave; without fear. The suffix less means without.
Friendship The bond between people who like each other. I comes before e.
Frighten Scare. Fright plus en.
Furniture Chairs, tables, beds and the like. It ends in ture.
Groan A low sound of pain. It sounds like grown.
Hidden Out of sight. It has a double d.
Impossible Not able to happen. Im means not, as it does in impolite.
Independent Not needing help from others. It ends in ent, not ant.
Invention Something made for the first time, such as the light bulb.

Show all 259 words (240 more)

4th Grade Spelling, continued

Measure Find the size or amount of something. It ends in sure.
Misspell Write a word with the wrong letters. Mis plus spell makes a double s.
Mistake Something done wrong by accident. The prefix mis means wrongly.
Neighborhood The area around your home. The gh is silent.
Preview A look at something before it comes out. Pre means before.
Rearrange Put things in a new order. Re means again.
Rebuild Make again after damage. The prefix re means again.
Steal Take what is not yours. It sounds like a strong metal.
Suddenly All at once, with no warning. It has a double d.
Thankful Glad and grateful. The suffix ful has only one l.
Thoughtful Kind and careful about other people. Thought plus ful.
Thrown Tossed through the air. It sounds like a king's chair.
Treasure Gold, jewels or anything very valuable. It ends in sure.
Unknown Not yet found out or named. After un comes a silent k.
Unusual Not common or ordinary. The prefix un means not.
Waist The middle of the body, above the hips. It sounds like waste.
Weather What the sky and air are doing today: sunny, rainy, windy or snowy.
Whether A word that means if. It sounds like the word for rain and sun.
Written Put down in words on paper. It has a double t.

Reading and Writing Words 31

Adage An old, wise saying, such as look before you leap.
Adjective A word that describes a noun, such as tall or green.
Adverb A word that tells how, when or where, such as slowly.
Apostrophe The mark in don't and Sam's that shows missing letters or ownership.
Cast All the actors in a play.
Character Someone who takes part in a story. Readers describe one by traits, feelings and actions.
Diagram A drawing with labels that shows the parts of something.
Dictionary The book that lists words in ABC order with their meanings.
Draft A first try at a piece of writing, before the fixing.
Drama A story written to be acted on a stage.
Firsthand Told by someone who was there and saw it happen.
Folktale A story passed down by word of mouth for many years.
Fragment A piece of a sentence that is missing a subject or a verb.
Interview Ask a person questions to gather facts.
Legend An old story, handed down, about a hero who may have lived.
Myth A very old story that explains nature or tells of gods and heroes.
Narrate Tell a story in order, as the voice in a book does.
Outline A plan that lists your main points before you write.
Phrase A small group of words that work together, such as in the morning.
Poetry Writing set in lines and verses, not in paragraphs.
Pronoun A word that stands in for a noun: he, she, it, they.
Proofread Read your writing slowly to catch mistakes before you share it.
Prose Ordinary writing in sentences and paragraphs, not poetry.
Publish Share a finished piece of writing with readers.
Research Look in books and other sources to find facts on a subject.
Scene One part of a play, set in one place and time.
Script The written words that the actors in a play speak.
Stage The raised floor where actors perform a play.
Thesaurus A book that lists words with the same or nearly the same meaning.
Verse One line of poetry, or a group of lines in a song.
Viewpoint Who tells the story: a character (I) or an outsider (he, she).

4th Grade Math 31

Acute Smaller than 90 degrees.
Angle The opening between two rays that share an endpoint, counted in degrees.
Area The space inside a flat shape. For a rectangle, multiply length by width.
Benchmark A handy number, such as 1/2, for judging other numbers against.
Degree The unit for angles. A full turn has 360.
Digit Any of the ten symbols from 0 to 9.
Divide Split into equal groups: 24 ÷ 6 = 4.
Endpoint The dot where a ray starts or a line segment stops.
Factor A number that divides another with nothing left over: 3 for 12.
Fraction A part of a whole, written like 3/4.
Gallon A unit for liquids equal to 4 quarts.
Kilogram A metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 grams.
Kilometer A metric unit of distance equal to 1,000 meters.
Liter A metric unit for liquids equal to 1,000 milliliters.
Mile A unit of distance equal to 5,280 feet.
Million A thousand thousands: 1,000,000.
Multiple What you get when you skip count by a number: 5, 10, 15 for 5.
Multiply Find the total of equal groups: 4 × 6 = 24.
Obtuse Bigger than 90 degrees but smaller than 180.
Ounce A small unit of weight. 16 of them make a pound.
Perimeter The total length of a shape's sides. For a rectangle, add length and width, then double.
Pint A unit for liquids equal to 2 cups.
Pound A unit of weight equal to 16 ounces.
Protractor The half-circle tool for finding the size of an angle.
Quart A unit for liquids equal to 2 pints.
Ray A straight path that starts at one point and goes on forever one way.
Remainder The amount left over after dividing: 17 ÷ 5 = 3 with 2 left.
Round Change a number to the nearest ten or hundred: 47 becomes 50.
Segment The part of a line between two endpoints.
Symmetry A shape has it when one half is the mirror image of the other.
Thousand Ten hundreds: 1,000.

Energy, Sound and Light 30

Battery A power source that stores energy as chemicals.
Bulb The glass part of a lamp that glows.
Collision The moment when two moving objects hit and pass energy between them.
Crest The highest point of a wave.
Current The steady flow of electricity through a wire.
Echo A sound that bounces off a surface and comes back.
Electric Powered by moving charges, as a lamp or a fan is.
Energy The ability to make things move, heat up, light up or make sound.
Fuel Something burned for energy, such as wood, coal or gas.
Generator A machine that turns motion into electricity.
Heat Energy that flows from something warmer to something cooler.
Lens A curved piece of glass that bends light, as in glasses or a camera.
Magnet An object that pulls iron toward it.
Motion A change in position; movement.
Motor A machine that turns electricity into motion.
Outlet The wall socket where you plug in a cord.
Pitch How high or low a sound is.
Reflect Bounce off a surface, as light does from a mirror.
Renewable Not used up, as energy from the sun, wind and water is not.
Signal A message sent by light, sound or electricity.
Sound Energy you can hear, made by something vibrating.
Spark A tiny, quick flash of light or fire.
Switch The part that opens or closes a circuit to turn things off or on.
Transfer Move from one object or place to another, as energy does.
Trough The lowest point of a wave.
Turbine A wheel with blades that wind, water or steam spins to make electricity.
Vibrate Move back and forth very fast.
Wave A repeating up-and-down motion that carries energy.
Windmill A tower with blades that the wind turns.
Wire A thin metal thread that carries electricity.

Plant and Animal Parts 30

Antenna One of the two feelers on an insect's head.
Backbone The row of small bones that protects the spinal cord.
Bark The tough outer covering of a tree trunk.
Beak The hard, pointed mouth of a bird.
Behavior The way an animal acts.
Blossom The flower of a fruit tree.
Camouflage Colors or patterns that help an animal blend in.
Feather One of the light, flat parts that cover a bird.
Gills The organs a fish uses to take oxygen from water.
Habitat The natural home of a plant or an animal.
Heart The organ that pumps blood through the body.
Hibernate Spend the winter in a deep sleep, as a groundhog does.
Instinct A behavior an animal is born knowing, such as a spider spinning a web.
Lung One of the two organs used for breathing.
Nerve A fiber that carries messages between the brain and the body.
Organ A body part with a job, such as the heart, the lungs or the stomach.
Petal One of the colored parts of a flower.
Pistil The part in the middle of a flower where the seeds form.
Pollinate Carry pollen from flower to flower, as bees do.
Root The plant part that holds it in the soil and takes in water.
Sense One of the five ways the body takes in information, such as sight.
Skeleton The frame of bones that holds up the body.
Skin The body's outer covering, and its largest organ.
Skull The bones of the head, which protect the brain.
Spine The column of bones down the middle of the back.
Stamen The flower part that makes pollen.
Stem The plant part that holds up the leaves and carries water to them.
Structure A part of a living thing built for a job, such as a wing or a root.
Talon A sharp, hooked nail on the foot of a hawk, an eagle or an owl.
Thorn A sharp point on a stem that protects a plant.

Rocks, Fossils and Landforms 32

Ancient Very, very old, like a fossil or the pyramids.
Avalanche A mass of snow sliding fast down a mountain.
Basin A low area of land with higher ground all around it.
Bedrock The solid rock under the soil.
Boulder A big loose rock. To a geologist it is any rock wider than about 25 centimeters (10 inches).
Cavern A large underground room in rock, often hollowed out by water.
Clay Fine, sticky earth that holds water and can be shaped.
Dinosaur A reptile of long ago, such as Triceratops, known today from fossils.
Eruption A volcano throwing out lava, ash and gas.
Fossil A trace of ancient life, such as a bone, shell, leaf print or footprint, preserved in rock.
Geyser A hot spring that shoots water and steam into the air.
Gorge A narrow cleft between cliffs, cut through rock by a river over a very long time.
Granite A hard, speckled rock formed when magma cools slowly underground.
Gravel Small, loose pieces of rock.
Hazard A danger. Floods and earthquakes are natural ones.
Hurricane A huge spinning storm that forms over warm ocean water.
Island Land with water all the way around it.
Landslide Rock and soil sliding quickly down a slope.
Layer One sheet of rock lying over or under another.
Limestone A rock made mostly from the shells and skeletons of sea animals.
Marble A smooth rock that limestone turns into under heat and pressure.
Marsh Low, wet land where grasses and reeds grow.
Mesa A hill with a flat top and steep sides.
Peninsula Land with water on three sides.
Ridge A long, narrow line of high land.
Sand Tiny grains of worn-down rock.
Soil The top cover of the land, made of bits of rock and rotted plants.
Summit The very top of a mountain.
Tornado A spinning funnel of wind that reaches from a storm to the ground.
Trench A long, deep ditch. The deepest are on the ocean floor.
Waterfall A place where a river drops over a rock ledge.
Wildfire A fire that spreads fast through forest or brush.

Maps and US Regions 34

Appalachian Names the old mountain range that runs through the eastern states.
Atlantic The ocean along the East Coast of the United States.
Atlas A book of maps, often with an index that lists each place and its page.
Border The line where one state or country ends and another begins.
Boundary A line that marks the edge of an area.
Capital The city where a state's or a country's government meets.
Cardinal Names the four main directions: north, south, east and west.
Cattle Cows and bulls raised for milk or meat.
Continent One of the seven great land areas of Earth.
County One of the parts a state is divided into.
Crop A plant grown in large amounts on a farm, such as corn.
Dairy A farm that produces milk, or foods made from milk.
Elevation How high the land is above the level of the sea.
Factory A building where goods are made by machines.
Globe A model of Earth shaped like a ball.
Grid The crossing lines on a map that help you find a place.
Harvest Gather a crop when it is ripe.
Highway A main road between towns and cities.
Lumber Wood cut into boards for building.
Midwest The region in the middle of the country, from Ohio west to Kansas.
Mining Digging coal, metals or stone out of the ground.
Northeast The region of the country that includes Maine, New York and Pennsylvania.
Orchard A field of fruit trees.
Pacific The ocean along the West Coast of the United States.
Population The number of people who live in a place.
Port A town with a harbor where ships load and unload.
Prairie A wide, flat grassland with few trees.
Ranch A large farm for raising cattle, sheep or horses.
Region An area whose places share features, such as climate or landforms.
Resource Something from nature that people use, such as water, soil or trees.
Route The way to get from one place to another.
Southeast The region of the country that includes Florida and Georgia.
Southwest The region of the country that includes Arizona and New Mexico.
Tourism The business of serving people who travel for fun.

Pioneers and State History 33

Blacksmith A worker who heats and hammers iron into tools and horseshoes.
Cabin A small, simple house, often built of logs.
Canoe A light, narrow boat moved with paddles.
Custom A way of doing things that a group has followed for a long time.
Expedition A trip to explore. Lewis and Clark's lasted from 1804 to 1806.
Explorer A person who travels to learn about unknown places.
Fort A strong building with walls, made to guard a place.
Frontier The far edge of settled land.
Gold The yellow metal that drew crowds to California in 1849.
Heritage The history and ways of life handed down from a people's past.
Homestead Land a family could claim under an 1862 law by living and farming on it.
Immigrant A person who comes to live in a new country.
Journey A long trip from one place to another.
Lantern A lamp with a handle and a cover, carried before flashlights.
Longhouse A long, bark-covered home that several Haudenosaunee families shared.
Mission A church settlement. Priests set up 21 of them in California from 1769 to 1823.
Oxen Strong cattle trained to pull wagons and plows.
Pioneer One of the first people to settle in a new area.
Plow A farm tool that cuts and turns the soil before planting.
Pueblo A village of stacked adobe homes in the Southwest.
Railroad Tracks for trains. The first to cross the country was finished in 1869.
Scout A person sent ahead to look over the land.
Settlement A small new community built by people who moved to an area.
Stagecoach A horse-drawn coach that carried passengers and mail between towns.
Statehood Being a full state of the United States and not a territory.
Steamboat A riverboat driven by a steam engine.
Telegraph A machine that sent messages over wires in dots and dashes.
Trade Swap goods, or buy and sell them.
Tradition A belief or a practice handed down from parents to children.
Trail A rough path. The Oregon one ran 2,170 miles west from Missouri.
Trapper A person who caught animals for their fur.
Tribe A group of families with a shared language, leaders and customs.
Wagon A cart with four wheels, pulled by oxen or horses.

How this list was compiled: Words chosen from what American 4th graders commonly read, write and study; the grade is our suggestion and the lists are not matched to any state's standards. All 38 words in the 4th Grade Spelling list are on this site's 4th grade spelling words page. Spellings checked on 2026-09-19 against a standard American English word list, and for the five it lacks (folktale, endpoint, benchmark, longhouse, gills as the plural of gill) at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/folktale https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/endpoint https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/benchmark https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/longhouse . Every number, date and place in a meaning was checked on 2026-09-19: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_customary_units (5,280 feet in a mile, 4 quarts in a gallon, 2 pints in a quart, 2 cups in a pint, 16 ounces in a pound); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail (2,170 miles, from Independence, Missouri); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_missions_in_California and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_San_Francisco_Solano (checked again 2026-09-20: 21 missions founded by Franciscan priests, the first in 1769 and the last in 1823, after Mexico's independence from Spain, so the meaning names the priests and no country, and says set up, not built, because the article's word for what the priests did is established; 1833 is the year the missions were secularized); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_transcontinental_railroad (opened 10 May 1869); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_gold_rush (1849 the peak year of arrivals); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_Acts (first act 1862; residence and cultivation); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_and_Clark_Expedition (May 1804 to September 1806); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longhouses_of_the_Indigenous_peoples_of_North_America (Haudenosaunee, bark cover, many families); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pueblo (multistoried adobe and stone, Southwest); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_States (states named in the region meanings); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Mountains (eastern, among the oldest ranges); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skin (largest organ); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog (true hibernation); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamen and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynoecium (pollen; pistil at the centre, seeds form in its ovary); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limestone (cooled magma; limestone changed by heat and pressure; skeletal fragments of sea animals); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone (rotating storm over warm ocean water); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oceanic_trench (deepest points of the ocean floor); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesa (flat top, steep sides); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canyon (a gorge is a cleft between cliffs cut by a river; checked 2026-09-20); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulder (a rock fragment wider than 25.6 cm; checked 2026-09-20); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code (telegraph, dots and dashes). Licence: own work

How it works

This word search for 4th graders, printable with a Name and Date line, draws from 259 words in 11 lists, such as Journey, Fraction and Habitat. Every word has a meaning, so a sheet can list clues instead.

Read the full guide

Word search printable, 4th grade: eight unit lists

Start from a list holds eight themes: 4th Grade Spelling, Reading and Writing Words, 4th Grade Math, Energy, Sound and Light, Plant and Animal Parts, Rocks, Fossils and Landforms, Maps and US Regions, and Pioneers and State History. A pick draws 15 of its words; Add another and the cross beside each word change that.

Make the worksheet easier or harder

Easier: pick 4th Grade Warm-Up (80 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Oxen) and press Easy, a fit for the start of fourth grade. Harder: pick 4th Grade Challenge (91 words of 8 to 12 letters, such as Camouflage) and press Hard.

Show clues, not words makes 4th Grade Math unit practice: "A unit of distance equal to 5,280 feet" is Mile.
4th Grade Spelling clues name the word part: "Im means not, as it does in impolite" for Impossible.
Four Pioneers and State History clues give dates for a timeline: 1804, 1849, 1862 and 1869.

Questions and answers

Why does this word search for fourth graders have no backwards words?

It opens on Medium, the middle of three levels: words run across, down and along two diagonals, and each reads left to right or top to bottom. The longest, Neighborhood, has 12 letters. Press Hard to add backwards words.

Can I put our own spelling words in a 4th grade word search?

Yes. Type them over the words under the grid, or paste the list into the last place, and the grid redraws as you type. Words of up to 14 letters fit the 14 by 14 grid; a longer word makes the grid grow.

What other word puzzles for 4th graders can I print?

A crossword. 4th grade crossword puzzles opens on 12 words of 5 or 6 letters with synonym clues and no word bank. For spelling, the 4th grade spelling words page holds all 38 words of the 4th Grade Spelling list here.

All 259 words

4th Grade Spelling 38

4th Grade Spelling, continued

Reading and Writing Words 31

4th Grade Math 31

Energy, Sound and Light 30

Plant and Animal Parts 30

Rocks, Fossils and Landforms 32

Maps and US Regions 34

Pioneers and State History 33

How it works

Word search printable, 4th grade: eight unit lists

Make the worksheet easier or harder

Questions and answers

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