Animal Crossword for Kids, Printable With Answers

Press New puzzle for an animal vocabulary crossword: pets, wild animals of the world or animal science words.

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Animal Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

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Answer key: Animal Crossword

1O2CTOPUSH3GIRAFFEME4PLATYPUSE5Z6POR7CU8PINE9SNHABKENRUEDAN10BTA11KOALAT12HIPPO

Across 1 OCTOPUS · 3 GIRAFFE · 4 PLATYPUS · 6 PORCUPINE · 11 KOALA · 12 HIPPO

Down 2 CHAMELEON · 5 ZEBRA · 7 CHEETAH · 8 PANDA · 9 SKUNK · 10 BAT

Next step Find animal names in a word searchScramble your own list of animal words

All 60 clues

Show all clues and answers

Farm Animals and Pets 20

  • Bull Male of the cattle family
  • Calf Young cow that drinks its mother's milk
  • Chinchilla Very soft-furred rodent pet from the Andes
  • Duckling Young duck that follows its mother in a line
  • Ferret Long, thin pet related to the weasel
  • Foal Young horse that can keep up with the herd a few hours after birth
  • Gerbil Small desert rodent kept as a pet, good at digging
  • Goat Bearded farm animal that can climb steep rocks
  • Guinea pig Small furry pet from South America that squeaks
  • Hamster Pet rodent that stuffs food into its cheek pouches
  • Hen Farm bird that sits on her eggs to keep them warm
  • Kitten Young cat
  • Llama Long-necked pack animal of the Andes mountains
  • Mule Hybrid of a donkey and a horse
  • Parakeet Small, colorful pet bird that can learn to copy words
  • Piglet Young pig that squeals and roots in the mud
  • Puppy Young dog
  • Rabbit Pet with long ears and a twitchy nose
  • Sheepdog Dog trained to herd a flock
  • Turtle Slow pet that can pull its head into its shell

Wild Animals of the World 20

  • Bat Furry night flier that finds insects by echolocation
  • Blue whale The largest animal that has ever lived
  • Chameleon Lizard that can change color and move each eye on its own
  • Cheetah The fastest land animal
  • Flamingo Pink wading bird that often stands on one leg
  • Giraffe The tallest land animal
  • Gorilla The largest ape
  • Hippo Huge African animal that spends its days in rivers
  • Hummingbird Tiny bird that hovers in place to sip nectar
  • Joey Baby kangaroo
  • Koala Australian tree-dweller that eats mostly eucalyptus leaves
  • Octopus Sea animal with eight arms
  • Ostrich The largest bird, which cannot fly
  • Otter Swimmer that floats on its back; the sea kind cracks shells with rocks
  • Panda Black-and-white bear of China that eats almost only bamboo
  • Platypus Egg-laying Australian animal with fur and a bill like a duck's
  • Porcupine Rodent covered in sharp quills
  • Skunk Black-and-white animal that sprays a bad smell to defend itself
  • Sloth Slow-moving animal that hangs upside down in rainforest trees
  • Zebra African relative of the horse with black and white stripes

Animal Science Words 20

  • Amphibian Animal such as a frog that starts life in water and later breathes air
  • Burrow Hole in the ground an animal digs to live in
  • Camouflage Colors or patterns that help an animal blend in
  • Carnivore Animal that eats meat
  • Feathers Only birds have them
  • Gills Body parts a fish breathes with
  • Herbivore Plant eater, such as a cow or a deer
  • Hoof Hard foot of a horse or a deer
  • Litter Babies born to one mother at one time
  • Mammal Animal with hair or fur that feeds its babies milk
  • Marsupial Animal whose babies grow in the mother's pouch, like a wombat
  • Nocturnal Awake at night, like an owl
  • Omnivore Animal that eats both plants and meat
  • Pod Group of whales or dolphins
  • Pride Group of lions
  • Reptile Scaly, cold-blooded animal such as a snake or lizard
  • Scales Small hard plates covering a fish or a snake
  • Talons Sharp, hooked claws of an eagle or owl
  • Tusk Long tooth that sticks out, as on an elephant or walrus
  • Venom Poison some snakes and spiders inject with a bite

How this list was compiled: 60 clues written for this site for elementary classes, in three sets: farm animals and pets, wild animals of the world, and animal science words. Every clue is a fact a child can check, and each record (tallest, fastest, largest) was checked against the English Wikipedia article for that animal (en.wikipedia.org) in September 2026. No film, toy or cartoon animal is named. Licence: own work

How it works

Every clue in this animal crossword is a fact a child can check: the fastest land animal, the largest bird, the lizard whose eyes move one at a time. It is a vocabulary crossword with no cartoon or toy animals.

Read the full guide

Three sets, easiest first

Farm Animals and Pets has Calf, Gerbil and Sheepdog for grades 1 and 2. Wild Animals of the World has Joey, Sloth and Blue whale. Animal Science Words has Herbivore, Marsupial, Talons and group names such as Pride and Pod.

Print or solve

Print gives Letter or A4 with the answer key last. To solve on screen, tap a square and type.

  • After a puzzle, ask the class to find each record animal (tallest, fastest, largest) in a library book to prove the clue.

Questions and answers

What grades is this animals crossword for?

Farm Animals and Pets suits grades 1 and 2 with the word bank on. Wild Animals of the World suits grades 2 to 4, and Animal Science Words grades 3 to 5. These bands are our judgement, not a published standard.

Where do the animal facts in the clues come from?

Each record and fact was checked against the English Wikipedia article for that animal. A fact the article did not state plainly was dropped: the hummingbird clue says it hovers, not that it flies backward.

Is there an answer key for this crossword of animals?

Yes. Every print ends with the answer key on a sheet of its own, and Show all clues and answers, under the puzzle, lists all 60 clues with their answers.

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