Communication Word Search for Speaking and Listening Lessons

Press New puzzle for 15 communication words, from Sender to Eye contact, then print the sheet with its answer key.

Name Date

Communication Word Search

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

0 of 15 words found

UELWHCUTHSQCZAU

ZYCIBHHEPNULSOD

REOYIAIHUDELPVT

YCNCLNFILASOELS

TOTCONFLICTKAIU

HNESWECASEISKFY

RTXGRLOMTROEGUE

NATHWSOEEDNOFSR

ACRPBRRSNOISETE

HTEELGASOZHMLNC

EYSCUHAATOKIOEE

QKPHSLNGNCELNPI

SGESTUREFTHEIAV

ATCNURZVOLUMENE

RNTSENDERPHUFFR

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.

SpeakSPEAK
VolumeVOLUME
QuestionQUESTION
ListenLISTEN
GestureGESTURE
Eye contactEYE CONTACT
SmileSMILE
SenderSENDER
ReceiverRECEIVER
MessageMESSAGE
ChannelCHANNEL
NoiseNOISE
ContextCONTEXT
RespectRESPECT
ConflictCONFLICT

15 of 26 words from the Communication list.

Pick three words from the Without Words list. Act each one out for a partner to guess.

Start from a list

Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

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

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Communication Word Search

UELWHCUTHSQCZAU

ZYCIBHHEPNULSOD

REOYIAIHUDELPVT

YCNCLNFILASOELS

TOTCONFLICTKAIU

HNESWECASEISKFY

RTXGRLOMTROEGUE

NATHWSOEEDNOFSR

ACRPBRRSNOISETE

HTEELGASOZHMLNC

EYSCUHAATOKIOEE

QKPHSLNGNCELNPI

SGESTUREFTHEIAV

ATCNURZVOLUMENE

RNTSENDERPHUFFR

SPEAK, VOLUME, QUESTION, LISTEN, GESTURE, EYE CONTACT, SMILE, SENDER, RECEIVER, MESSAGE, CHANNEL, NOISE, CONTEXT, RESPECT, CONFLICT

Next step Make a word search from your own words Make a communication word scramble

All 138 words

Voice and Speaking 21

Accent The way people from one place sound when they talk.
Dialect A form of a language used in one region, with some words of its own.
Emphasis Extra force put on a word to show that it matters.
Fluent Able to use a language smoothly and without long stops.
Greeting The first friendly words when people meet, such as good morning.
Inflection The rise and fall of the voice, such as the lift at the end of a question.
Mumble To talk so quietly and unclearly that people cannot make out the words.
Paralanguage Everything in a voice apart from the words, such as how high and how loud it is.
Pitch How high or low a voice sounds.
Question A sentence that asks for an answer.
Remark A short comment made in passing.
Reply An answer given back to a person who spoke or wrote to you.
Request A polite way of asking for something.
Slang Casual words used among friends that may not suit a classroom or a job.
Small talk Light chat about the weather or the weekend, often the way strangers begin.
Speak To say words out loud.
Suggest To offer an idea for others to think about.
Tone The feeling carried by a voice, such as friendly, bored or cross.
Voice The sound a person makes when talking or singing.
Volume How loud or soft a voice is.
Whisper To talk very softly, using breath more than sound.

Show all 138 words (117 more)

Active Listening 22

Acknowledge To show that you heard, with a word or a small sign.
Attentive Watching and listening with care.
Clarify To ask something that makes sure you understood.
Concentrate To keep all your thought on one thing.
Curiosity A wish to know more, the thing that makes good questions.
Distraction Anything that pulls your mind away from the person talking.
Engage To take part with real interest.
Feedback The reply that shows how a message landed. Wilbur Schramm added it to his model of how people communicate.
Follow up A second question that digs deeper into an answer.
Gist The main point of what someone said, without the details.
Interrupt To start talking before another person has finished.
Judgment A verdict on what someone has said or done.
Listen To pay close attention to sounds or to what someone is saying.
Notes Key points jotted down while someone talks.
Open ended The kind of question that cannot be answered with a plain yes or no.
Paraphrase To say back in your own words what you think you heard.
Patience The ability to wait calmly while someone finds the words.
Recall To bring back to mind what was said earlier.
Recap A quick run through the main points again.
Reflection Saying back the feeling you heard behind a person's words.
Take turns To let one person talk, then the next, so that nobody is talked over.
Understand To know what someone means.

Without Words 27

Appearance How a person looks, including clothes and grooming.
Body language Messages sent by movement and stance, not by words. The study of it is called kinesics.
Distance The gap people keep when they talk. Edward Hall, who coined proxemics in 1963, put friends at 1.5 to 4 feet.
Emblem A gesture that replaces a word, such as the wave that means hello and goodbye in the US.
Expression The look on a face, such as surprise, worry or delight.
Eye contact Looking at the person who is talking, a wordless way to show interest.
Eyebrows The two arches of hair that rise in surprise and lower in a scowl.
Frown A wrinkled brow and a turned-down mouth.
Gesture A movement of the hands, arms or head that carries meaning.
Glance A very quick look.
Handshake A clasp of right palms to say hello or to seal a deal.
Haptics The study of how a pat, a hug or a clasp of hands sends a message.
High five A raised-palm slap between two people to celebrate.
Kinesics The study of how body movement sends messages.
Lean To tilt the body forward, which can show interest.
Lip reading Working out what is said by watching the mouth and face of the talker.
Nod A quick dip of the head that means yes or I hear you.
Pantomime Acting out a meaning with movement alone, as in charades.
Point To aim a finger at something so that others look at it.
Posture The way a person holds the body when sitting or standing.
Proxemics The study of how people use the space around them when they talk.
Shrug A lift of both shoulders that means I do not know.
Sign language A complete way of talking with the hands, face and body, used by many deaf people.
Smile An upward curve of the mouth that shows a person is pleased.
Thumbs up A closed fist with one digit raised, used to say good job.
Touch Contact such as a pat on the shoulder. The study of it as a message is called haptics.
Wink One eye shut and opened quickly, often to share a joke.

How a Message Travels 25

Barrier Something that blocks understanding, such as a different language or a loud room.
Bilingual Able to use two languages.
Channel The route a message takes, such as sound through air, ink on paper or a wire.
Context The place, time and people around a message, which change what it means.
Decode To work out the idea from the words or signals that arrive.
Destination The last box in the Shannon and Weaver model: the person the message was meant for.
Encode To turn an idea into words, pictures or signals.
Exchange A giving and taking, as when two people trade ideas.
Information Facts and ideas. Passing them from one mind to another is a common definition of communication.
Interpret To decide what a message is saying.
Jargon Special words that only people in one job or hobby understand.
Medium The thing that carries a message, such as paper, a screen or the air.
Message The idea that one person passes to another.
Noise Anything that gets in the way of a message, from a loud room to a bad phone line.
Nonverbal Without words. Faces, hands and posture all send this kind of message.
Receiver The person a message is meant for, who has to work out what it means.
Sender The person a message starts with.
Signal The form a message takes while it travels, such as sound waves or a flash of light.
Source Where a message begins. It is the first box in the Shannon and Weaver model of 1949.
Spoken Said out loud.
Static Crackle on a radio or phone line that hides part of what is said.
Symbol A mark, picture or sound that stands for something else.
Transmit To send from one place or person to another.
Two way The kind of exchange in which both people send and both receive.
Written Put down in letters on paper or a screen.

Working It Out Together 22

Agree To share the same view.
Apology Words that say sorry.
Assertive Saying what you need clearly and calmly, without pushing anyone around.
Common ground The things both sides already accept, a good place to start.
Compromise A deal in which each side gives up a little.
Conflict A clash between people who want different things.
Consensus A decision that everyone in the group can accept.
Diplomacy Skill in handling people and disputes without giving offense.
Empathy The ability to imagine how another person feels.
I statement A sentence that begins with how the talker feels. Thomas Gordon coined the term in the 1960s.
Icebreaker A short game that helps people who have just met start talking.
Mediate To help two sides in a quarrel reach a deal, without backing either one.
Meeting A planned gathering to talk things over.
Negotiate To talk until both sides accept a deal.
Perspective The way things look from one person's position.
Rapport An easy, friendly understanding between people.
Resolve To settle a problem so that it is over.
Respect Treating other people and their ideas as if they matter.
Role play Acting out a situation to try what you might say in real life.
Solution The answer that fixes a problem.
Tactful Able to tell the truth gently, so that feelings are spared.
Teamwork People combining their efforts to reach one goal.

Letters, Screens and Signals 21

Braille Writing made of raised dots, six to a cell, read with the fingertips. Its French inventor devised it at fifteen, in 1824.
Broadcast A program sent out by radio or television to many people at once.
Bulletin A short notice of news, pinned to a board or read out.
Caption The line of words under a picture.
Email A letter sent from one screen to another in seconds.
Envelope The paper cover a letter travels in.
Intercom A speaker system that carries a voice from the office to every classroom.
Invitation A card or note that asks someone to come to an event.
Keyboard The rows of lettered buttons used for typing.
Megaphone A cone-shaped horn that makes a voice carry farther.
Memo A short written note sent around a workplace.
Morse code Dots and dashes that spell out letters. A dash lasts three times as long as a dot.
Newsletter A regular bulletin sent to members, families or customers.
Newspaper Printed daily or weekly pages of reports.
Pictogram A simple picture that stands for a word or idea, like the figures on restroom doors.
Podcast A talk show that is downloaded and heard on a phone or computer.
Postcard A picture on one side and a short note on the other, mailed without a cover.
Semaphore Spelling out letters with two hand-held flags, each arm in one of eight positions.
Telegraph A machine that sent messages along a wire as electric pulses.
Telephone A device that carries voices over long distances.
Video call A chat in which people see each other on screens.

How this list was compiled: 138 communication words for a speaking and listening unit, a counselor's lesson or a life skills class, chosen and defined for this site: six themed lists (voice and speaking, active listening, communication without words, how a message travels, working it out together, and letters, screens and signals), a 26-word starter list, 12 short words and every entry of 8 letters or more. It is a vocabulary list only: each line says what a word means and none claims to teach or improve a skill. No product or company is named. Facts were checked on 19 September 2026 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon%E2%80%93Weaver_model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schramm%27s_model_of_communication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxemics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-message https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_semaphore and the rarer spellings at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/paralanguage and its sister entries. Licence: own work

How it works

This communication word search ends with a partner task printed under the word list. Its 26 starter words include Sender, Feedback and Eye contact, and eight more lists run from Voice and Speaking to Letters, Screens and Signals.

Read the full guide

Listening, body language and working it out

Active Listening has 22 words, such as Paraphrase, Clarify and Open ended, enough for a communication skills word search in a counselor's lesson. Without Words has 27, from Nod and Shrug to Proxemics, and the printed task asks pupils to act three of them out for a partner to guess. Working It Out Together carries Compromise, Mediate and I statement for a unit on conflict.

Dots, dashes and flags in the last list

Letters, Screens and Signals covers the ways a message crosses a distance. A braille cell has six raised dots, a Morse dash lasts three times as long as a dot, and a semaphore signaler holds two flags with each arm in one of eight positions. Edward Hall coined the word proxemics in 1963.

I statement, a term Thomas Gordon coined in the 1960s, sits in the grid as ISTATEMENT.

Questions and answers

Which list covers the communication model?

How a Message Travels, with 25 words. Shannon and Weaver's 1949 model has five parts: source, transmitter, channel, receiver and destination, with noise as whatever distorts the signal. It runs one way, and Wilbur Schramm later added feedback.

Which list has the body language words?

Without Words. It holds Gesture, Posture, Eye contact and Expression, along with the study names Kinesics for body movement, Proxemics for personal space and Haptics for touch.

What words are in the Active Listening list?

Paraphrase, Clarify and Open ended lead it. To Paraphrase is to say back in your own words what you heard. To Clarify is to ask something that makes sure you understood. An Open ended question cannot be answered with a plain yes or no.

All 138 words

Voice and Speaking 21

Active Listening 22

Without Words 27

How a Message Travels 25

Working It Out Together 22

Letters, Screens and Signals 21

How it works

Listening, body language and working it out

Dots, dashes and flags in the last list

Questions and answers

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