Candy Cane Word Search

A puzzle of stripes, peppermint and candy making for December, printed with its answer key.

Name Date

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

0 of 15 words found

CANENONSDTNQLIH

CTLLARHMEIEEENE

ZBJORPAMPMWMAIS

NTCCOCROOKFTOEF

DRRRMKAOHNXPICM

PEPPERMINTEFHHF

SRZRHCUUUSTMORE

TREEYJROGCZWOIN

IQPBWSTRIPEGKSO

CCRMHWWDSSSPNTR

KANOIEITUPTMXMF

INKLTESRGIIOOAE

LDIYETTRAREDBSI

EYLEGYHHRABDDIH

TSINTRLSBLEZEZD

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.

CandyCANDY
CaneCANE
PeppermintPEPPERMINT
StripeSTRIPE
HookHOOK
RedRED
WhiteWHITE
SugarSUGAR
TwistTWIST
SweetSWEET
ChristmasCHRISTMAS
StickSTICK
SpiralSPIRAL
CrookCROOK
TreeTREE

15 of 20 words from the Candy Cane list.

Pick three words from the list. Use them to describe a candy cane to someone who has never seen one.

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Word list

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

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Answer key: Candy Cane Word Search

CANENONSDTNQLIH

CTLLARHMEIEEENE

ZBJORPAMPMWMAIS

NTCCOCROOKFTOEF

DRRRMKAOHNXPICM

PEPPERMINTEFHHF

SRZRHCUUUSTMORE

TREEYJROGCZWOIN

IQPBWSTRIPEGKSO

CCRMHWWDSSSPNTR

KANOIEITUPTMXMF

INKLTESRGIIOOAE

LDIYETTRAREDBSI

EYLEGYHHRABDDIH

TSINTRLSBLEZEZD

CANDY, CANE, PEPPERMINT, STRIPE, HOOK, RED, WHITE, SUGAR, TWIST, SWEET, CHRISTMAS, STICK, SPIRAL, CROOK, TREE

Next step Print the candy word search Print the Christmas word search

All 123 words

Stripes and Shape 20

Arch The rounded form of the top, like a doorway.
Bend To turn the straight end over while it is still warm and soft.
Candy Sweet food made by cooking sugar; the first half of this treat's name.
Cane A walking stick with a bent top, the shape that gives this treat the second half of its name.
Crook The bend at the top, like the one on a shepherd's staff.
Curve A smooth bend with no corner in it.
Glossy Smooth and bright on the surface, as hard candy is when it cools.
Hook The bent top that lets the treat hang from a branch or the rim of a mug.
Jumbo Very large, like a cane as long as your arm.
Mini Very small, like a cane no longer than a finger.
Pattern A design that repeats, such as wide bands with fine lines between them.
Red The color of the stripes on the classic kind.
Spiral The path of each stripe: around the stick and along it at once.
Stick A thin, straight rod; early ones of striped peppermint had no bent top at all.
Straight Without a bend, as every one is before its top is turned.
Stripe A band of color; on the classic kind each one winds from tip to tip.
Thin Narrow, like the fine lines between the wide bands.
Traditional Made the long-established way: white, with red bands and a peppermint taste.
Twist To turn the soft rope so that its stripes wind around it.
White The color of the classic kind between its stripes.

Show all 123 words (103 more)

Flavors 17

Blueberry A small, round fruit, deep blue when ripe.
Cherry A small stone fruit; stick candy is made in many fruit tastes.
Cinnamon A warm bark spice, among the tastes that stick candy has long come in.
Cool The slightly cold feeling that the classic taste leaves in the mouth.
Flavor What the tongue and nose pick up together; makers now offer many besides the classic one.
Lemon A yellow citrus fruit, sharp enough to make a cane that puckers the mouth.
Menthol The substance in peppermint oil that gives it its cold feel.
Peppermint The herb whose cool, strong oil gives the classic taste.
Rainbow Banded in many colors, not only one.
Spearmint A garden herb whose oil is widely used to flavor candy.
Strawberry A soft red fruit of early summer; stick candy is made in berry tastes too.
Sugar The white crystals that are boiled to make every hard candy.
Sweet The taste of sugar, and the whole point of a cane.
Taste The sense that tells sugary from sour.
Tingle The light prickle on the tongue from a strong one.
Wintergreen A taste drawn from the leaves of a low woodland plant with red berries.
Zing A sharp, lively kick of taste.

How It Is Made 21

Boil To heat the pot until it bubbles.
Cook To bring the pot to the right heat, which a maker checks with care.
Cut To chop the cord into pieces of one length.
Dough The warm, soft mass before it is shaped; makers use the baker's word for it.
Dye Food coloring, worked into one part of the batch for the stripes.
Factory The building where machines turn out canes by the thousand.
Harden To turn firm, which the finished pieces do as they lose their warmth.
Heat What turns sugar and water into a thick, clear liquid.
Invent To think up something new, such as a machine that makes the bend.
Kettle The big pot that holds the bubbling mixture.
Length The distance from end to end, the same for every piece that a machine cuts.
Machine A device that does the work of hands; one patented in 1957 turns the cord and cuts it.
Patent The legal right to an invention; one for a cane machine was filed in the early 1920s.
Pull To draw the warm mass out long before it is turned and cut.
Recipe Written steps for making a food; one for striped peppermint sticks was printed in 1844.
Roll To turn the warm mass over and over into a log.
Rope The long cord that the log is drawn into before it is cut.
Slab A thick, flat piece, such as the stone top of a candy maker's table.
Stretch To draw a thick roll out into a long, thin one.
Syrup Sugar and water boiled together until thick; the start of every batch.
Wrap To seal each finished piece in clear film.

Where You See Them 18

Bundle Several canes tied together.
Card A printed greeting; a Christmas one from the early 1900s pictures candy canes.
Christmas The December holiday that this treat belongs to.
Cocoa A hot chocolate drink that a cane can stir.
Counter The long table in a store where the sweets are paid for.
December The month when the shelves fill with them.
Decoration Something put up to make a room merry.
Dozen Twelve of anything, canes included.
Jar A wide glass holder with a lid; stick candy was long sold from one on the counter.
Mantel The shelf above a fireplace, where the big socks hang.
Mug A heavy cup; the bent top hangs neatly over its rim.
Ornament Anything hung on a branch to decorate it, a job this treat does well.
Party A gathering where a bowl of small canes sits by the door.
Ribbon A strip of cloth that ties a few canes into a present.
Shop A small store, such as the kind that sells sweets.
Stocking A big sock hung up for small gifts, with a cane poking out of the top.
Tree A magazine of 1882 describes canes hanging on a Christmas one.
Wreath A ring of greenery for a door, sometimes trimmed with canes.

The Mint Plant 18

Crop A plant raised by farmers to sell.
Extract A strong liquid flavoring drawn out of a plant.
Flower The bloom of a plant; on this herb it is purple.
Fuzzy Covered in fine hairs, as this herb's leaves and stems usually are.
Garden A plot for herbs and flowers; this herb spreads quickly through one.
Harvest The cutting of the crop.
Herb A plant grown for its taste or smell.
Hybrid A cross between two kinds of plant; peppermint is one.
Leaf The flat part of the herb, dark green with reddish veins.
Moist Slightly wet, the kind of soil in which the herb grows best.
Purple The color of the herb's small blooms.
Runner A creeping shoot; the herb spreads by sending these out along the ground.
Shade Cover from the sun; the herb grows best with some of it.
Stem The stalk of the plant; on this herb it is square.
Summer The season when the herb comes into bloom.
Tea A hot drink; one kind is brewed from the leaves of this herb.
Veins The fine lines in a leaf; on this herb they are reddish.
Watermint A wild herb of wet ground, one parent of the classic taste.

Eating and Sharing 19

Bark A flat sheet of chocolate with broken peppermint candy pressed into the top.
Break To come apart; a dropped cane does it easily.
Crack The sharp sound of a cane breaking.
Crunch The loud bite that ends a patient eater's work.
Crush To pound into tiny bits for the top of a dessert.
Dip To lower one end into melted chocolate.
Lick To run your tongue along it.
Melt To turn slowly to liquid, as a cane does in a hot drink.
Nibble To take the tiniest bites off the straight end.
Pieces What is left in the wrapper when a cane has been dropped.
Point The sharp end that slow eating leaves.
Share To break one in half for a friend.
Slowly The way a hard candy goes, a little at a time.
Snap To break cleanly in two.
Sprinkle To scatter the broken bits over frosting.
Stir To swirl a drink around; a cane makes a spoon you can eat.
Tongue The part of the mouth that wears a cane down to a tip.
Topping Broken bits scattered over ice cream or a cake.
Treat Something special to eat.

Dates and History 10

Century A hundred years; the treat's name goes back more than one and a half.
Chicago The city whose candy makers filed an early patent for a cane machine.
Earliest First of all in time.
Exhibition A public show; stick candy was shown at one in Massachusetts in 1837.
Georgia The American state where a candy maker began making canes for local children in 1919.
Legend An old tale that may not be true; several are told about how this treat began.
Magazine A paper printed monthly; one linked candy canes to Christmas in 1874.
Mammoth Huge; the cane in the 1866 tale is described this way.
Record A written account; the oldest one of this treat by name is from 1866.
Story A tale; the words "candy cane" first turn up in one printed in 1866.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Spellings and meanings were checked on 16 October 2026 in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (https://www.ahdictionary.com/). The dates and the making of the candy in the clues follow these English Wikipedia articles, read the same day: Candy cane (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_cane), Stick candy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stick_candy), Peppermint (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppermint) and Peppermint bark (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peppermint_bark). Watermint and the candy sense of bark were checked in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/water_mint). Licence: own work

How it works

Peppermint, Stripe, Hook, Red, White, Sugar, Twist and Sweet are on the opening list of this candy cane word search. Seven themed lists cover the candy itself, how it is made and the mint plant behind its flavor.

Read the full guide

Seven lists about one candy

Stripes and Shape has Crook, Spiral and Arch. Flavors has Wintergreen, Cinnamon and Menthol. How It Is Made has Syrup, Kettle and Rope. Where You See Them has Stocking, Mantel and Mug. The Mint Plant has Hybrid, Watermint and Runner, and Eating and Sharing has Crunch, Nibble and Bark.

Dates in the clues

Dates and History follows Wikipedia's article on the candy cane. Stick candy was shown at an exhibition in Massachusetts in 1837, and a recipe for striped peppermint sticks was printed in 1844. The words candy cane first appear in a story of 1866. The earliest canes were made by hand; a machine patented in 1957 took over the twisting and the cutting.

Mint is not hidden, because it would read inside Peppermint, Spearmint and Watermint.
The Mint Plant suits a science corner: peppermint is a hybrid of watermint and spearmint, with square stems.

Questions and answers

Is there a free printable candy cane word search?

This one is free and asks for no account. It prints on two pages of Letter or A4: the puzzle, with a name and date line and a short writing task, then the answer key.

What words are in the candy cane word search?

123 words about one candy, from Red and Hook to Wintergreen and Traditional. Lollipops, taffy and chocolate are on the candy word search.

Is there an easy candy cane word search for younger children?

Short and Easy has 12 words of 3 to 5 letters: Candy, Cane, Hook, Red, White, Sugar, Twist, Sweet, Lick, Tree, Bend and Melt.

Why are candy canes shaped like a hook?

Wikipedia's article on the candy cane gives no confirmed reason and calls the best-known story about the bend likely apocryphal. A recipe of 1844 describes straight striped peppermint sticks; by 1882 a magazine described candy canes hung on a Christmas tree.

All 123 words

Stripes and Shape 20

Flavors 17

How It Is Made 21

Where You See Them 18

The Mint Plant 18

Eating and Sharing 19

Dates and History 10

How it works

Seven lists about one candy

Dates in the clues

Questions and answers

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