Constitution Word Search for Constitution Day and Civics Units

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Constitution Word Search

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0 of 16 words found

PREAMBLEWMAHLIR

ENWYCONVENTIONK

DWASHINGTONESTL

BHENNRGKHOSMNPN

IIPHILADELPHIAH

LTREIHMIPDWATWY

LMIHOAEQENRAULY

OQUSSQNUOATHQHL

FSYAUADIPBLVQAR

RHZVWRMLLATETML

IRRYPDELEGATEIO

GYZFRANKLINORLL

HUEPOSTERITYGTH

TIIHUTRRMADISON

SPRESIDENTODVNE

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.

We the PeopleWE THE PEOPLE
PreamblePREAMBLE
PosterityPOSTERITY
ConventionCONVENTION
PhiladelphiaPHILADELPHIA
DelegateDELEGATE
QuillQUILL
PresidentPRESIDENT
OathOATH
VetoVETO
AmendmentAMENDMENT
Bill of RightsBILL OF RIGHTS
WashingtonWASHINGTON
HamiltonHAMILTON
FranklinFRANKLIN
MadisonMADISON

16 of 24 words from the Constitution Favorites list.

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Answer key: Constitution Word Search

PREAMBLEWMAHLIR

ENWYCONVENTIONK

DWASHINGTONESTL

BHENNRGKHOSMNPN

IIPHILADELPHIAH

LTREIHMIPDWATWY

LMIHOAEQENRAULY

OQUSSQNUOATHQHL

FSYAUADIPBLVQAR

RHZVWRMLLATETML

IRRYPDELEGATEIO

GYZFRANKLINORLL

HUEPOSTERITYGTH

TIIHUTRRMADISON

SPRESIDENTODVNE

WE THE PEOPLE, PREAMBLE, POSTERITY, CONVENTION, PHILADELPHIA, DELEGATE, QUILL, PRESIDENT, OATH, VETO, AMENDMENT, BILL OF RIGHTS, WASHINGTON, HAMILTON, FRANKLIN, MADISON

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All 190 words

Preamble and Parchment 18

Article One of the seven main parts of the document, numbered with Roman numerals.
Blessings Good things; the opening sentence hopes to secure those of liberty for the writers and their descendants.
Clause A single paragraph inside a section, the smallest part a lawyer cites.
Constitution The supreme law of the United States: one opening sentence, seven articles and 27 amendments.
Defence The 1787 spelling, kept in the National Archives transcript, of the common protection the opening sentence provides for.
Establish To set up; the opening sentence uses this verb twice, once for justice and once for the document itself.
Justice The second goal of the opening sentence is to establish this: fair treatment under the law.
Liberty Freedom from unfair control; the last of the six goals is to secure its blessings.
Ordain To order by official decree; the verb the opening sentence uses for putting the document in force.
Parchment Treated animal skin the final copy was written on; all four pages are on display at the National Archives.
Posterity All the generations still to come, the last people the opening sentence names.
Preamble The one-sentence opening that lists six goals; Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania mainly wrote it.
Section A numbered part inside an article; Article I has ten of them.
Signature A handwritten name; 39 delegates added theirs on September 17, 1787.
Tranquility Calm and peace; the opening sentence promises to insure the domestic kind.
Union The first goal of the opening sentence is to form a more perfect one.
We the People The first three words of the document, written large at the top of page one.
Welfare Well-being; the opening sentence promises to promote the general kind.

Show all 190 words (172 more)

Constitutional Convention 33

Annapolis Maryland city where delegates of five states met in September 1786 and called for a larger meeting.
Anti-Federalist Opponent of approval in 1787 and 1788 who feared a strong central government; Patrick Henry led them.
Bicameral Made of two chambers, as Congress has been since the Connecticut deal of 1787.
Committee A small group given a task; one of Detail wrote the first draft and one of Style the last.
Compromise A deal in which each side gives something up; Roger Sherman's gave the House seats by population and the Senate two per state.
Confederation The Articles of this were the first national charter; the new document replaced them on March 4, 1789.
Convention Meeting of state delegates from May 25 to September 17, 1787, called to revise the Articles of Confederation.
Debate Formal argument for and against; the delegates did it for nearly four months.
Delaware First state to approve the document, on December 7, 1787, by a vote of 30 to 0.
Delegate A person sent to speak for others; 55 attended in 1787 and 39 of them signed.
Draft An early version; the Committee of Detail presented the first full one on August 6, 1787.
Engross To copy a document in a fine, clear hand; one clerk did it in about 40 hours before the signing.
Framers Name for the men who attended in 1787 and shaped the document.
Gerry Elbridge of Massachusetts, who refused to sign without a bill of rights; later the fifth vice president.
Inkstand Silver desk set made by Philip Syng in 1752, used at the signings of 1776 and 1787.
Jackson William, the meeting's secretary; he signed only to attest the document and was not a delegate.
Mason George of Virginia, one of three delegates who stayed to the end but refused to sign, for want of a bill of rights.
New Hampshire Ninth state to approve the document, on June 21, 1788, the number Article VII required.
New Jersey Plan William Paterson's answer for the small states: keep one legislative body with one vote for every state.
Philadelphia Pennsylvania city where the delegates met in the summer of 1787.
Publius Pen name shared by Hamilton, Madison and Jay for 85 newspaper essays urging approval.
Quill Feather pen; the silver desk set used at the signing has a holder for one.
Quorum The least number of members needed to do business; the 1787 meeting first reached one on May 25.
Randolph Edmund of Virginia, who helped draft his state's outline and sat on the Committee of Detail, but did not sign.
Ratify To approve formally; Article VII put the document in force once nine states had done it.
Rhode Island The only one of the 13 states that sent nobody to the 1787 meeting, and the last to approve, on May 29, 1790.
Sedan Chair Covered seat on poles in which Benjamin Franklin, aged 81, was carried to the sessions.
September Month of the signing in 1787, and of Constitution Day each year, on the 17th.
Shallus Surname of Jacob, the assistant clerk of the Pennsylvania assembly who penned the final copy.
State House Pennsylvania's capitol building of 1787, where the delegates met; later renamed Independence Hall.
Three Fifths Fraction of a state's enslaved people counted toward its House seats under a 1787 deal; the 14th Amendment replaced it in 1868.
Unanimous Agreed by all; the closing lines say the states present consented this way, though three delegates held out.
Virginia Plan Outline drafted by Madison and Randolph that based seats in the legislature on each state's population.

Three Branches 19

Ambassador Official sent to a foreign country; the president names them with the consent of the Senate.
Chief Justice Presides over the Senate when a president is tried on impeachment, the one place the 1787 text names this office.
Commander Article II makes the president this, in chief, of the army and navy.
Congress The lawmaking branch set up by Article I, made of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
Electors People each state appoints to vote for president; a state gets as many as its seats in Congress.
Executive The branch that carries out the laws, set up by Article II.
House Short name for the chamber whose members are chosen every second year.
Judges Article III lets them keep their posts during good behavior, with pay that cannot be cut.
Judicial The branch of courts and judges, set up by Article III.
Legislative The branch that makes the laws; Article I gives it all such powers.
Majority More than half; this share of each chamber makes a quorum.
Oath Promise a new president makes to preserve, protect and defend the document.
President Head of the executive branch; must be a natural born citizen aged at least 35.
Representative Member of the lower chamber; must be at least 25 years old and seven years a citizen.
Senate Upper chamber: two members from each state, each serving six years.
Senator Must be at least 30 years old and nine years a citizen.
Speaker Presiding officer the lower chamber chooses for itself under Article I.
Supreme Court Highest bench in the land and the only one Article III names; Congress creates the lower ones.
Term Length of time in office: two years in the House, four for a president, six in the Senate.

Powers and Limits 32

Adjourn To end a sitting; neither chamber may do it for more than three days without the other's consent.
Army Congress may raise and support one, but may fund it for no more than two years at a time.
Bill A proposed law; ones that raise revenue must start in the House.
Bribery Named beside treason in Article II among the grounds for removing a president.
Census Count of the population taken every ten years and used to share out House seats.
Coin Money Power given to Congress and denied to the states: to mint the nation's cash.
Commerce Trade; Congress regulates it with foreign nations, among the states and with the Indian tribes.
Counterfeit Fake; Congress may punish the making of this kind of coin or security.
Declare War Power that Article I gives to Congress, not to the president.
District The seat of government, which Article I limits to ten miles square.
Emolument Old word for pay or profit from an office; a president may accept no extra one from any state.
Ex Post Facto Latin for a law that punishes an act done before the law existed; Article I forbids such laws.
Habeas Corpus Latin name of the writ that lets a prisoner ask a judge whether the detention is lawful; Article I guards it.
Impeachment Formal charge against an official; the House alone brings it and the Senate alone tries it.
Inventors With authors, the people whose work Congress may protect for limited times: the root of patents and copyright.
Journal Record of its proceedings that each chamber must keep and publish.
Jurisdiction A court's authority to hear a case; Article III lists the kinds federal judges may hear.
Militia Citizen soldiers of the states; Congress may call them out to enforce the laws, put down uprisings and repel invasions.
Naturalization The process of becoming a citizen; Congress sets one uniform rule for it.
Navy Congress may provide and maintain one.
Nobility Article I bans titles of this, so the United States has no dukes or earls.
Override What both chambers can do, by the required share of votes, to pass a bill the president sent back.
Pardon Forgiveness for a federal offense; the president may grant one except in cases of impeachment.
Piracy Robbery on the high seas, which Congress has the power to define and punish.
Post Office Congress may establish these, along with roads for the mail.
Reprieve A delay of punishment, which the president may grant along with pardons.
Tax Money collected by government; laying and collecting it is the first power listed in Article I, Section 8.
Treason Crime defined in Article III: levying war against the United States or giving its enemies aid and comfort.
Treaty Agreement with another country; the president makes it with the advice and consent of the Senate.
Two Thirds Share of both chambers needed to pass a returned bill or propose an amendment, and of senators present to approve a treaty.
Veto Word that never appears in the text; Article I says the president returns a bill with objections.
Yeas and Nays Recorded votes for and against, entered in the journal when one fifth of those present ask.

Constitution Principles 17

Balances Second half of the famous pair: powers shared out so that no one branch rules alone.
Checks Ways one branch can block another, such as a veto; the first half of a famous pair.
Citizen A legal member of a country; the word appears in the age rules for all three elected offices.
Consent Agreement; the Senate gives advice and this on treaties and appointments.
Elastic Clause Nickname for the end of Article I, Section 8: Congress may pass laws necessary and proper to its listed powers.
Enumerated Listed one by one, like the powers of Congress in Article I, Section 8.
Federalism Division of power between the national government and the states.
Implied Kind of powers not written out but needed to carry out the listed ones.
Limited Kind of government that may do only what its written charter allows.
Republic Government by elected representatives; Article IV guarantees this form to every state.
Reserved Kind of powers the 10th Amendment leaves to the states or to the people.
Rule of Law Idea that everyone, leaders included, must obey the same legal code.
Self-Government A people making its own laws, the idea behind the first three words.
Separation Keeping lawmaking, enforcing and judging in different hands; the first three articles do it.
Sovereignty Supreme authority; the popular kind means it rests with the people.
Supremacy Name of the Article VI clause that puts federal law above any state law in conflict with it.
Supreme Law What Article VI makes of the document, federal statutes and treaties: they outrank every state rule.

Rights and Amendments 34

Amendment A formal change to the text; 27 have been ratified since 1789.
Assembly 1st Amendment right of the people to gather peaceably.
Bail Money pledged for release before a trial; the 8th Amendment bars an excessive amount.
Bear Arms Right of the people named in the 2nd Amendment, beside a well regulated militia.
Bill of Rights Name for the first ten amendments, ratified on December 15, 1791.
Citizenship The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, gives it to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.
Counsel A lawyer's help, promised to the accused by the 6th Amendment.
Double Jeopardy Being tried twice for the same offense, which the 5th Amendment forbids.
Due Process Fair legal steps the 5th and 14th Amendments require before life, liberty or property is taken.
Fines Money penalties; the 8th Amendment bars excessive ones.
Freedom The 1st Amendment protects five kinds: religion, speech, the press, assembly and petition.
Grand Jury Panel that must bring the charge in a serious federal case, under the 5th Amendment.
Income Tax The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, lets Congress collect this without dividing it among the states.
January The 20th Amendment starts each presidential term at noon on the 20th day of this month.
Petition 1st Amendment right to ask the government to set a wrong right.
Press 1st Amendment freedom for newspapers and other publishers.
Prohibition Nationwide ban on alcoholic drinks under the 18th Amendment, ratified in 1919.
Punishment The 8th Amendment bars the cruel and unusual kind.
Quartering Housing soldiers in private homes, which the 3rd Amendment forbids in peacetime without the owner's consent.
Religion First topic of the 1st Amendment: Congress may not establish one or prohibit its free exercise.
Repeal To cancel a law; the 21st Amendment did this to the 18th in 1933.
Search The 4th Amendment bars unreasonable ones of persons, houses, papers and effects.
Seizure The taking of a person or property, barred by the 4th Amendment when unreasonable.
Slavery The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865, ended it everywhere in the United States.
Speech 1st Amendment freedom to say what you think.
Speedy Trial 6th Amendment right of the accused: no long wait, and the public may watch.
Succession Order of who takes over; the 25th Amendment covers a president who dies, resigns or cannot serve.
Suffrage The right to vote; the 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, barred denying it on account of sex.
Term Limit The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, set one for presidents: elected no more than twice.
Three Fourths Share of the states that must approve an amendment under Article V.
Vote The 15th, 19th and 26th Amendments each widened who may cast one.
Voting Age The 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, set it at 18 across the country.
Warrant Written order that, under the 4th Amendment, issues only on probable cause and must describe the place.
Witness The 6th Amendment lets the accused confront each one who testifies against them.

Signers of the Constitution 37

Baldwin Abraham of Georgia, founder of the University of Georgia.
Bassett Richard of Delaware, later governor of his state.
Bedford Gunning Jr. of Delaware, attorney general of his state.
Blair John of Virginia, whom Washington named to the first Supreme Court.
Blount William of North Carolina, the only governor of the Southwest Territory.
Brearley David of New Jersey, chief justice of his state.
Broom Jacob, a businessman from Wilmington, Delaware.
Butler Pierce of South Carolina, born in Ireland.
Carroll Daniel of Maryland, one of five men who signed both the Articles of Confederation and this document.
Clymer George of Pennsylvania, who also signed the Declaration of Independence.
Dayton Jonathan of New Jersey, at 26 the youngest signer; later the third Speaker of the House.
Dickinson John of Delaware; he was ill on signing day, so a fellow delegate wrote his name for him.
Few William, one of the first two senators from Georgia.
Fitzsimons Thomas of Pennsylvania, a merchant born in Ireland.
Franklin Benjamin of Pennsylvania, at 81 the oldest signer and, in 1790, the first to die.
Gilman Nicholas of New Hampshire; he sat in the House through the first four Congresses.
Gorham Nathaniel of Massachusetts, who had presided over the Congress of the Confederation.
Hamilton Alexander, the only signer from New York; later the first secretary of the treasury.
Ingersoll Jared of Pennsylvania; he ran for vice president in 1812 and lost.
Jenifer Daniel of St. Thomas, a Maryland signer born in 1723.
Johnson William Samuel of Connecticut, who chaired the Committee of Style.
King Rufus of Massachusetts; in 1816 he was the last Federalist nominee for president.
Langdon John of New Hampshire; later the first president pro tempore of the Senate.
Livingston William, the first governor of New Jersey.
Madison James of Virginia, called the Father of the Constitution; later the fourth president and the last signer to die, in 1836.
McHenry James of Maryland, born in Ireland; a fort in Baltimore is named for him.
Mifflin Thomas, the first governor of Pennsylvania.
Morris Surname of two Pennsylvania signers: Robert, Financier of the Revolution, and Gouverneur, who wrote the opening sentence.
Paterson William of New Jersey, born in Ireland, author of the small-state outline; later a Supreme Court justice.
Pinckney Surname of two South Carolina signers, the cousins Charles and Charles Cotesworth.
Read George of Delaware, who wrote two names on the page: his own and that of an ill fellow delegate.
Rutledge John of South Carolina, who chaired the Committee of Detail; later the second chief justice.
Sherman Roger of Connecticut, who proposed the two-chamber deal; the only person to sign all four great state papers.
Spaight Richard Dobbs, later the eighth governor of North Carolina.
Washington George of Virginia, president of the 1787 meeting and the first to sign.
Williamson Hugh of North Carolina, a physician and natural scientist.
Wilson James of Pennsylvania, born in Scotland; one of six men who signed both this document and the Declaration.

How this list was compiled: 190 words from the Constitution and its amendments in 7 themed lists, plus a Constitution Day list, chosen and defined for this site. Article references, the 39 signers and the amendment dates were checked on 2026-09-19 against the National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript, https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/founding-fathers and https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27. The convention and each signer's clue follow English Wikipedia. Licence: own work

How it works

This Constitution word search opens on 16 of 24 favorites, from We the People to Veto. Behind it sit 7 themed lists, a Constitution Day list and the surnames of all 39 signers.

Read the full guide

Pick the list for this week's lesson

The 190 words are filed as Preamble and Parchment, Constitutional Convention, Three Branches, Powers and Limits, Constitution Principles, Rights and Amendments, and Signers of the Constitution. Three Branches is a 19-word outline; the government word search gives each branch a list of its own. A phrase longer than 14 letters would not fit the opening grid, so Checks and Balances are two separate words here.

Turn the puzzle into a review sheet

Tick Show clues, not words, in More options. Every clue was checked against the National Archives transcript on 2026-09-19, and most name an article or amendment: "Latin for a law that punishes an act done before the law existed; Article I forbids such laws" leads to Ex Post Facto.

Defence is spelled as the 1787 text spells it. Veto is listed although the document never uses the word.
For grades 3 and 4, pick Easy Constitution and 8 words: 22 short words such as Oath, Vote and Bill.
For grades 7 and 8, pick Hard Constitution and press Hard. Habeas Corpus is hidden without its space.

Questions and answers

Is there a Constitution Day word search for September 17?

Click Constitution Day under Start from a list. Its 30 words include Quill, Framers and Washington. The day marks the signing in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787, and opens Constitution Week, which runs through September 23.

Is there a list of the men who signed the Constitution?

Click Signers of the Constitution and set 24 words for a They Signed the Constitution word search. It holds all 39 signers as 37 surnames: two were named Morris and two Pinckney. Every clue gives the state, Langdon of New Hampshire to Baldwin of Georgia.

Is this a US Constitution word search or a general civics one?

It is about the document: the 1787 text, the Convention, the amendments and the signers. For Congress, the courts and elections as they work today, print the government word search. Every constitution word search puzzle here prints with its answer key.

All 190 words

Preamble and Parchment 18

Constitutional Convention 33

Three Branches 19

Powers and Limits 32

Constitution Principles 17

Rights and Amendments 34

Signers of the Constitution 37

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Turn the puzzle into a review sheet

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