Fall Word Search Printable

Press New puzzle for another fall word search, then Print or save as PDF, or start from October's 37 words.

Name Date

Fall Word Search

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

0 of 16 words found

SIEGVLEAVESLCAW

CETDSRUYYTRSHTD

ALBHWNIAGXVCIFN

RBZIEAFOOTBALLI

FEIOASFQEIARLCT

QCKETOFROSTEYKV

QPTNECDEHLFCIKU

NQTIRNYEABARCRP

PMAPLEWRYLCOZYO

IIISYRKOROOWTAN

EIFYASQUIRRELXE

LTOENOEYDANAETB

FGBONFIRENHESES

NMXOSBONEGGATZE

MGEESEKMFEESTHA

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.

LeavesLEAVES
MapleMAPLE
OrangeORANGE
AcornACORN
ScarecrowSCARECROW
HayrideHAYRIDE
PiePIE
FrostFROST
ChillyCHILLY
SquirrelSQUIRREL
GeeseGEESE
SweaterSWEATER
ScarfSCARF
BonfireBONFIRE
FootballFOOTBALL
CozyCOZY

16 of 24 words from the Fall Favorites list.

Start from a list

Easy: words go across and down.

More options

Show clues, not words

Word list

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

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Fall Word Search

SIEGVLEAVESLCAW

CETDSRUYYTRSHTD

ALBHWNIAGXVCIFN

RBZIEAFOOTBALLI

FEIOASFQEIARLCT

QCKETOFROSTEYKV

QPTNECDEHLFCIKU

NQTIRNYEABARCRP

PMAPLEWRYLCOZYO

IIISYRKOROOWTAN

EIFYASQUIRRELXE

LTOENOEYDANAETB

FGBONFIRENHESES

NMXOSBONEGGATZE

MGEESEKMFEESTHA

LEAVES, MAPLE, ORANGE, ACORN, SCARECROW, HAYRIDE, PIE, FROST, CHILLY, SQUIRREL, GEESE, SWEATER, SCARF, BONFIRE, FOOTBALL, COZY

Next step Run these fall words as a spelling test Add your own words to a new puzzle

All 147 words

Leaves and Trees 31

Acorn The nut of the oak. It sits in a little cup and takes 5 to 24 months to ripen.
Aspen A slim tree of cool mountain places. Its leaves turn bright yellow.
Bark The rough outer skin of a tree.
Birch A tree with pale, papery bark. Its leaves turn yellow.
Branch An arm of a tree. By the end of fall most are bare.
Chestnut A shiny brown nut that grows inside a prickly shell.
Chlorophyll The green in a leaf. It breaks down as days get shorter, so other colors show.
Color What leaves change in fall. Bright, cool days and chilly nights make the reds strongest.
Cork Cells of this seal the base of each leaf stem before the leaf drops.
Crimson A deep red, seen on many maple leaves in October.
Crunch The sound dry leaves make under your shoes.
Deciduous Describes a tree that drops all its leaves for part of the year. It means falling off.
Dogwood A small tree whose leaves turn red in fall.
Evergreen A tree that looks green all year because it never sheds every leaf at once.

Show all 147 words (133 more)

Leaves and Trees, continued

Foliage All the leaves on a plant. New England and eastern Canada are famous for theirs in fall.
Forest A large area thick with trees.
Golden A rich, shiny yellow, like birch and aspen leaves in fall.
Hickory A tree with hard wood and tasty nuts. Its leaves turn yellow.
Leaves They turn yellow, orange and red, then drop. The American name of the season comes from 'fall of the leaf'.
Maple A tree famous for red fall color. The red pigment is made late in summer.
Oak The tree that grows acorns. Many kinds turn red late in the season.
Orange The color between red and yellow, shared by falling leaves and pumpkins.
Pigment A natural coloring. The yellow kind is in a leaf all year, hidden by green until fall.
Pile A heap. Gather the leaves into one, then jump in.
Pinecone The woody, scaly seed holder of a pine tree.
Rake A tool with long teeth for pulling fallen leaves into a heap.
Rustle The soft sound of dry leaves moving in the wind.
Sycamore A big shade tree with patchy bark. Its leaves turn yellow.
Trunk The thick main stem of a tree.
Twig A very small, thin branch.
Yellow A leaf color that was there all summer, hidden under the green.

Harvest and Farm 31

Apple Picked from orchard trees in fall, then eaten fresh, baked or pressed into cider.
Bale A tight bundle of hay or straw.
Barn The big farm building for animals, hay and machines.
Basket A woven container for carrying apples out of the orchard.
Bushel A measure for apples and grain. About a third of one makes a gallon of cider.
Cider In the US and Canada, an unfiltered drink pressed from apples and made in fall.
Compost Old leaves and kitchen scraps left to rot into rich soil.
Cornstalk The tall stem of a corn plant, tied in bundles as a fall decoration.
Cranberry A sour red berry. Growers flood the beds in fall and the ripe berries float.
Crop Plants a farmer grows for food.
Gourd A hard-shelled cousin of the pumpkin, often dried and used for decoration.
Harvest Gathering ripe crops. Before the 1500s it was also the usual English name for this season.
Hayride A ride in a wagon filled with hay, offered at many farms in fall.
Haystack A large heap of dried grass kept to feed animals through winter.
Husk The dry, leafy cover around an ear of corn.
Ladder What a picker climbs to reach the apples at the top of the tree.
Maze Paths cut through a cornfield to get lost in. In the US most are cut down in early November.
Orchard A field planted with fruit trees.
Pear A sweet fruit, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, ripe in late summer and fall.
Pie A baked dish with a crust. The pumpkin kind is a Thanksgiving staple in the US and Canada.
Pumpkin A winter squash, and a fruit. The oldest pieces found, in Mexico, are over 7,000 years old.
Ripe Ready to pick and eat.
Scarecrow A figure dressed in old clothes and set in a field to keep birds off the crops.
Squash A fruit that grows on a vine. A pumpkin is one kind.
Straw Dry stalks of grain, used for animal bedding and for stuffing a scarecrow.
Thanksgiving The fourth Thursday of November in the US, and the second Monday of October in Canada.
Tractor The farm machine that pulls wagons and plows.
Turnip A root vegetable. In Ireland and Scotland people carved lanterns from these before pumpkins.
Wagon A cart with four wheels, pulled by a tractor or a horse.
Wheat A grain ground into flour for bread.
Wheelbarrow A cart with one wheel and two handles for moving leaves, soil or pumpkins.

Fall Weather and Sky 17

Autumn The other name for fall, from Latin by way of Old French. It was in common use by the 1500s.
Chilly Cool enough that you want a jacket.
Crisp How cool, dry fall air feels, and how a fresh apple bites.
Daylight The sunlit part of the day. It shrinks all through fall, until late December.
Dusk The dim light after sunset. It comes earlier every day in fall.
Equinox The day the Sun crosses the equator heading south. It comes between September 21 and 24.
Fog A cloud sitting on the ground, common on cool mornings.
Frost Ice that forms on cold surfaces straight from water vapor in the air, skipping the liquid step.
Gust A sudden burst of wind that sends leaves flying.
Hemisphere Half of the Earth. In the southern one, fall runs from March to May.
Moon Earth's neighbor in the night sky. The full one nearest the September equinox is named for the harvest.
November A month of 30 days. Most of the US sets clocks back an hour on its first Sunday.
Season One of the four parts of the year. Fall is the one between summer and winter.
September The month fall begins. Its name comes from the Latin for seven.
Sunset When the Sun goes down. In fall it happens a little sooner each evening.
Temperature How hot or cold it is. It drops through fall as the days shorten.
Windy Blowing hard enough to strip the last leaves from the trees.

Animals Getting Ready 19

Bat A flying mammal that hunts at night. Many kinds hibernate through winter.
Bear It eats a huge amount in fall, then lives off its fat all winter without eating or drinking.
Burrow A hole or tunnel an animal digs to live in.
Cache A hidden store of food. Squirrels and jays make many of them in fall.
Chipmunk A small striped animal that carries food in its cheek pouches to a larder in its burrow.
Deer A shy woodland animal with hooves. It is one of the large animals that eat acorns.
Feather One of the light, soft parts that cover a bird and keep it warm.
Flock A group of birds flying or feeding together.
Geese Large birds that travel in a V shape. Flying that way is thought to save energy.
Hedgehog A small spiny animal of Europe that hibernates through winter.
Hibernate To pass the cold months in a deep rest, with slow breathing and a slow heartbeat.
Honk The loud call of a goose.
Jay A noisy bird that hides acorns to eat later, just as squirrels do.
Migrate To travel as the seasons change. Monarch butterflies fly up to 3,000 miles to reach Mexico.
Monarch An orange and black butterfly. Eastern ones leave in September and October for central Mexico.
Nest A home a bird builds. Bare branches in fall make old ones easy to spot.
Owl A bird with big eyes that hunts at night.
Squirrel It buries acorns for winter. The ones it forgets can grow into new oaks.
Woodpecker A bird that drills into tree trunks. Several kinds eat acorns.

Cozy Fall Days 20

Blanket A warm cover for a bed, a sofa or a chilly evening in the stands.
Bonfire A big outdoor fire that people gather around on a cold evening.
Boots Tall, sturdy shoes for mud and wet leaves.
Caramel Sugar cooked until it turns brown and sticky, often used to coat an apple on a stick.
Cinnamon A brown spice made from the inner bark of a tree, stirred into cider and baked into pie.
Cozy Warm, snug and comfortable.
Doughnut A ring of fried dough. Cider mills and roadside stands sell a kind made with apple cider.
Festival A big public celebration. Many towns hold one at harvest time.
Fireplace The spot in a house where logs burn under a chimney.
Flannel A soft, warm cloth used for shirts and pajamas.
Football A sport with an oval ball. In the US, school and college teams play it in fall.
Hike A long walk on a trail, at its most colorful in October.
Homecoming A fall weekend when former students come back to their school, most often for a football game.
Jacket A short, light coat for cool days.
Mug A big cup with a handle, good for hot cider or soup.
Plaid A pattern of crossed stripes, common on flannel shirts.
Quilt A thick bed cover sewn from many pieces of cloth.
Scarf A long strip of cloth worn around the neck.
Soup A hot meal in a bowl, welcome on a chilly day.
Sweater A knitted top that comes out of the drawer when the air turns cool.

October 29

Bobbing Trying to lift an apple out of a tub of water using only your teeth.
Calendula A yellow or orange flower also called pot marigold, the birth flower of October.
Canal A waterway dug by people. The Erie one opened on October 26, 1825, joining the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
Candy Sweets handed out at the door on October 31.
Chicago The Illinois city whose great fire of October 1871 is remembered by Fire Prevention Week.
Cobweb An old, dusty spider web, and a favorite Halloween decoration.
Costume Clothes that turn you into someone else for a night of trick-or-treating.
Dictionary A book of words and their meanings. Noah Webster, born October 16, 1758, wrote a famous American one in 1828.
Eight The number hiding in the name of October. An octopus has this many arms and an octagon this many sides.
Firefighter Fire Prevention Week, the week that holds October 9, is a good time to thank one.
Fossil The remains of ancient life turned to stone. The US has held a national day for them in mid-October since 2010.
Halloween October 31. The name is a form in Scots of All Hallows' Eve.
Hunter The full moon after the harvest one is named for this person. It usually comes in October.
Lantern A light you can carry. A pumpkin carved into one glows on porches on October 31.
Liberty The statue of this name in New York Harbor, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
Libra The star sign of the scales. It covers birthdays up to October 22.
Mask It covers your face and hides who you are.
October A month of 31 days. Its name comes from the Latin for eight, its place in the oldest Roman calendar.
Octopus A sea animal with three hearts. Its name, like October's, goes back to an old word for eight, its count of arms.
Opal A gem that flashes many colors. It is a birthstone for October.
Scorpio The star sign that starts on October 23. Its symbol is a desert animal with a stinger in its tail.
Space Where rockets go. A United Nations week about it runs from October 4 to 10.
Spooky A little bit scary, in a fun way.
Sputnik The first satellite made by people. The Soviet Union launched it on October 4, 1957.
Teacher October 5 is the world day for thanking this person, who stands at the front of your classroom. It began in 1994.
Tenth October's place in the year today, though its name comes from the Latin for eight.
Tourmaline A gem that comes in many colors. It shares the job of October birthstone with opal.
Treat Something sweet. On October 31 children in costume ask for one from house to house.
Yosemite A California national park of granite cliffs, waterfalls and giant sequoias, created on October 1, 1890.

How this list was compiled: 147 fall words with plain meanings written for this site: leaves and trees, the harvest, fall weather and sky, animals getting ready for winter, cozy days and a 37-word October list. The facts in the clues were checked on 2026-09-18 against English Wikipedia, chiefly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autumn_leaf_color, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthstone, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry. The chipmunk clue follows https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipmunk, and the 15 October words added on 2026-09-20 follow the October article and the article on each day or event, all read that day. Licence: own work

How it works

This fall word search printable opens on 16 of 24 favorites, such as Acorn, Scarecrow and Bonfire, across and down in a 15 by 15 grid. New puzzle deals another 16. Eight more lists bring the total to 147 words.

Read the full guide

An easy fall word search printable, or a hard one

Start from a list offers 9 lists. Easy Fall keeps to 60 short words (Oak, Rake, Frost). For kindergarten, open More options and tick Large print. Hard Fall runs from Pinecone to Chlorophyll, 34 words of 8 to 12 letters. For a fall word search hard enough for fifth grade, press Hard. Wheelbarrow may then run backwards. For adults, press Add another until the list holds 20.

Five themes and one month

Five lists go by theme, from Leaves and Trees to Cozy Fall Days, and October follows the calendar. Print or save as PDF opens the print window: pick Save as PDF for a fall word search PDF.

Tick Show clues, not words in More options, and pupils read "The green in a leaf" to find Chlorophyll.
For fall words read aloud as a test, see the fall spelling word list.
Call it autumn? Type Autumn Word Search over the title above the grid: printable and PDF both change.

Questions and answers

Is there a free printable October word find?

Yes. Under Start from a list, choose October: 37 words, from Halloween and Cobweb to Sputnik, Opal and Tourmaline, the month's birthstones. The sheet retitles itself October Word Search, prints free with its answer key, and New puzzle deals a different 16 each time.

Why do leaves change color in fall?

Chlorophyll, the green in a leaf, breaks down as days get shorter, so other colors show. The yellow pigment was there all year, hidden by the green, and a maple makes its red late in summer. All three facts are clues in Leaves and Trees.

Why was fall once called harvest?

Before the 1500s harvest was the usual English name for the season, as the Harvest clue says. Autumn came from Latin through Old French and was common by the 1500s. Fall is short for fall of the leaf, as the Leaves clue tells.

All 147 words

Leaves and Trees 31

Leaves and Trees, continued

Harvest and Farm 31

Fall Weather and Sky 17

Animals Getting Ready 19

Cozy Fall Days 20

October 29

How it works

An easy fall word search printable, or a hard one

Five themes and one month

Questions and answers

More tools