Gymnastics Word Search

Fifteen gymnastics words hidden in one grid, from Vault to Dismount, with the answer key on a second page.

Name Date

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

0 of 15 words found

WGBDXCARTWHEELN

TDSOMERSAULTDHM

TIUVAULTFLOORAB

YSFGICROZISHDMT

IMETBEAMNAHDABF

AOYEIAYTPWSWMAT

NURTNOVNTTNIERU

MNOLEOTARDISTSW

TTUMBLINGYMNAST

CHTMHANDSTANDYX

HRINGSLNINPEQCO

NMNROHAFOLIHAHB

LFEHWRGGIHPYWAY

KATQTTOOYFBYELS

OLRHSBRROHWRRKJ

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.

GymnastGYMNAST
VaultVAULT
BeamBEAM
BarsBARS
FloorFLOOR
RingsRINGS
MatMAT
ChalkCHALK
LeotardLEOTARD
CartwheelCARTWHEEL
HandstandHANDSTAND
SomersaultSOMERSAULT
TumblingTUMBLING
RoutineROUTINE
DismountDISMOUNT

15 of 24 words from the Gymnastics list.

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Answer key: Gymnastics Word Search

WGBDXCARTWHEELN

TDSOMERSAULTDHM

TIUVAULTFLOORAB

YSFGICROZISHDMT

IMETBEAMNAHDABF

AOYEIAYTPWSWMAT

NURTNOVNTTNIERU

MNOLEOTARDISTSW

TTUMBLINGYMNAST

CHTMHANDSTANDYX

HRINGSLNINPEQCO

NMNROHAFOLIHAHB

LFEHWRGGIHPYWAY

KATQTTOOYFBYELS

OLRHSBRROHWRRKJ

GYMNAST, VAULT, BEAM, BARS, FLOOR, RINGS, MAT, CHALK, LEOTARD, CARTWHEEL, HANDSTAND, SOMERSAULT, TUMBLING, ROUTINE, DISMOUNT

Next step Hide your own gymnasts' first names in a grid Print the dance word search

All 161 words

Events and Disciplines 20

Acrobatic The branch in which partners balance on, lift and throw one another, to music.
Aerobic The branch that grew out of exercise classes: fast patterns of moves set to music.
All-around The contest in which one gymnast is scored on every apparatus.
Artistic The best-known branch of the sport: short routines on different apparatus.
Asymmetric bars The British name for the women's two-rail event.
Balance beam The women's event of leaps and turns on a padded rail only four inches wide.
Event final The last contest on one apparatus, for those who scored best on it in the opening round.
Floor exercise The event of tumbling on a sprung square. Women perform it to music, men without.
High bar The other name for the single steel rail that men swing round.
Horizontal bar The men's event of giant swings and releases round a single steel rail.
Parallel bars The men's event on two wooden rails set side by side at one height.
Parkour A sport of its own that the world gymnastics body also governs.
Pommel horse The men's event of swinging leg circles on a padded body with two handles.

Show all 161 words (148 more)

Events and Disciplines, continued

Qualification The opening round of a big meet, which decides who goes on to the finals.
Rhythmic The branch performed on a floor with a hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon or rope.
Still rings The men's event on two hanging hoops that must be kept from swinging.
Trampoline A branch of the sport, and its apparatus, on which athletes bounce high to do acrobatics.
Tumbling Flips and twists down a long sprung track, or the same skills done on floor or beam.
Uneven bars The women's event on two rails set at different heights.
Vault The event with a sprint, a springboard and a padded table to push off from.

In the Gym 30

Apparatus The word for any piece of equipment used in the sport.
Bars The short name for the women's two-rail apparatus.
Beam The short name for the narrow padded rail that women perform on.
Bed The fabric sheet of a trampoline that athletes bounce on.
Bib The number worn on a gymnast's back so the judges know who is who.
Buck A small vaulting horse made for school PE lessons.
Cable Steel ones hold up the rings and steady the high rail.
Chalk White powder put on hands, feet and apparatus so that nothing slips.
Dowel A small rod on some grips that helps the hand keep hold of the rail.
Fiberglass It strengthens the inside of modern wooden rails.
Floor A carpeted square over foam and plywood, counted as an apparatus.
Foam pit A soft place to land while learning a new skill on the rails.
Frame Springs join a trampoline's bouncing sheet to this.
Grips Strips of leather worn over the palms on the rails and the rings.
Horse The old vault apparatus, much like the pommel one but with no handles.
Leather The traditional cover of the pommel horse, and what grips are cut from.
Leotard A skin-tight one-piece garment, made famous by a French acrobat of the 1800s.
Mat Soft equipment that breaks a fall.
Plywood A layer of this lies under the foam of a sprung floor.
Pommels The two handles on top of the men's horse.
Rings Two hoops on straps, hung from a frame and gripped one in each hand.
Runway The long strip a gymnast sprints down before a vault.
Springboard The board a gymnast jumps from to reach the vault.
Strap Each ring hangs from one.
Table The wider, more stable apparatus that replaced the old vaulting horse.
Tape Some gymnasts wrap their hands in this in place of grips.
Toe shoes Footwear that covers only the front of the foot, worn to help with turns.
Tongue Gymnasts' nickname for the modern vault apparatus, which slopes down at one end.
Track The long sprung strip that tumblers flip along.
Unitard A one-piece like a leotard that also covers the legs.

Tumbling Skills and Shapes 27

Aerial A cartwheel done with no hands on the ground.
Arabesque A stand on one leg with the second leg raised.
Arabian A salto that starts backward, makes a half twist and carries on as a front flip.
Bridge An exercise: the arched body is held up on hands and feet.
Cartwheel A sideways turn over the hands, arms and legs moving like the spokes of a rolling cart's rim.
Elbow stand An upside-down pose held up on the forearms alone.
Flic-flac Another name for a handspring.
Flip A leap and a full turn in the air, usually with no hand touching the floor.
Full A flip with a complete turn added in mid air.
Gainer A backward flip done while moving forward.
Handspring A full turn over the hands, pushing off the floor to land back on the feet.
Handstand Balancing upside down on the hands with the body held straight.
Illusion A spin on a single foot with the chest dropped toward the ground.
Layout A body position, and a salto, stretched completely straight with toes pointed.
Lunge The step, lead leg in front, that a classic cartwheel starts from.
Needle Hands and one foot on the floor, the other leg kicked up into a full split.
Oversplit A leg stretch that goes beyond a straight line of 180 degrees.
Pass A run of acrobatic skills from one corner of the floor to another.
Pike A body position bent only at the hips.
Roll A somersault done on the ground.
Roundoff Like a cartwheel, but both feet land together, facing the way the gymnast came.
Salto The sport's own word for a somersault.
Somersault A full turn of the body in which the feet go over the head.
Splits Down on the ground with one leg stretched in front and the other behind.
Straddle A position with the legs spread wide.
Tuck A body position with the knees pulled to the chest.
Twist A turn about the long axis of the body, added to a straight salto.

Swings, Holds and Vaulting 25

Blisters Painful bubbles on the palms that grips help to prevent.
Block The quick push off the vault table that uses only the shoulders.
Circle On the pommel horse, both legs together sweeping right round, held up on the hands.
Flares Pommel horse circles done with the legs straddled.
Giant A full turn round the rail with the body fully stretched.
Glide The kind of kip most often used to get onto the women's rails.
Hang The starting position under the still rings or the high rail.
Hold A still strength position, one of the three kinds of skill in a rings routine.
Iron cross A rings skill: hanging in mid air with both arms straight out to the sides.
Kip A sharp bend and stretch at the hips that swings a gymnast up onto the rail.
Manna A strength move on the hands with the hips raised above the shoulders.
Momentum Giants build this up so that a gymnast can fly high on the dismount.
Mount How a gymnast gets up onto a piece of equipment; also the skill that does it.
Preflight The first of the four phases judges watch in a vault, before the hands touch.
Press To push the body's weight onto the hands and rise slowly into a handstand.
Pullover Getting onto the rail by using arm strength to haul the body up and over it.
Regrasp To catch the rail again after letting go of it.
Release Letting go of the apparatus to do a skill in the air before catching it again.
Rips Tears in the skin of the palms from work on the rails.
Scissors The usual single-leg skill on the pommel horse.
Sprint The fast run down the runway before a vault.
Strength The rings are known for demanding a great deal of it in the upper body.
Support A kip ends in the front kind of this, with the gymnast up on the rail.
Swing What a gymnast does below the rail or the rings to build up speed.
Transition A move from one rail to the other on the women's apparatus.

Rhythmic and Acrobatic 29

Balance In a rhythmic routine, a pose held still for a second or more.
Ball A rhythmic apparatus that is balanced on the body, thrown and caught.
Base In an acrobatic pair or group, the partner who supports and throws.
Boomerang A ribbon move: toss the stick, then tug the end of the cloth to bring it back for a catch.
Carpet It covers the rhythmic floor, which has no springs under it.
Clubs A rhythmic apparatus that comes as a pair, each with a small head.
Combined The acrobatic routine that mixes still poses with throwing skills.
Dynamic The acrobatic routine with throws, somersaults and catches.
Group Five rhythmic gymnasts who perform their routines together.
Handle The stick of a ribbon. It may be wood, bamboo or fiberglass.
Hoop A rhythmic apparatus of plastic or wood, rolled, spun and thrown.
Leap In a rhythmic routine it has to make a clear shape in the air.
Middle In an acrobatic group, the one who holds up the smallest partner while standing on another.
Mills Small circles swung with the heads of the two clubs, one just behind the other.
Pairs Two acrobatic gymnasts working together, of one gender or mixed.
Pivot A turn on one foot.
Pyramid A shape that acrobatic gymnasts build with their bodies and hold still.
Ribbon A rhythmic apparatus: a long strip of cloth on a stick, kept always in motion.
Risk A high throw of the apparatus with at least two turns of the body under it.
Rope A rhythmic apparatus of hemp with no handles, now seen only in junior groups.
Rotation A spin of the body, one of the three kinds of body skill in a rhythmic routine.
Satin The cloth a rhythmic ribbon is made of.
Sequins Sparkling decorations that the rules once kept off rhythmic leotards.
Skipping One of the things a rhythmic gymnast does over the rope.
Slippers Rhythmic footwear that covers the toes but not the heels.
Snakes Small, tight waves made with a ribbon.
Spirals Small, tight circles made with a ribbon.
Top The usually smaller acrobatic partner, who is balanced and thrown.
Tower Acrobatic gymnasts balanced one upon another and held still.

Meets and Scoring 30

Agility With balance, strength and flexibility, one of the things the sport demands.
Coach The person who may lift a gymnast up to the rings or the high rail to start.
Code of Points The document that sets how each branch of the sport is scored.
Compulsory Until 1997, a set routine that every gymnast in a team contest had to perform.
Deduction Points taken away for a mistake.
Difficulty The mark that grows with harder skills and has no upper limit.
Dismount How a gymnast leaves a piece of equipment; also the skill that does it.
Element A single skill in a routine. The hardest ones count toward the difficulty mark.
Elite The top level of competition, or a gymnast who has reached it.
Execution The mark that starts at ten and loses points for mistakes.
Fall On a vault landing, this or a step costs points.
Gymnasium A hall for the sport. In ancient Greece it was where athletes trained for the public games.
Gymnast An athlete in this sport.
Hit To get through a skill or a whole routine with no major errors.
Judge A trained person who scores gymnasts on each apparatus.
Junior A top-level gymnast who is not yet old enough to compete with the seniors.
Landing The last of the four phases judges watch in a vault.
Meet A common word for a gymnastics competition.
Optional Until 1997, a gymnast's own routine, performed on the second day of a team contest.
Out of bounds Said of a gymnast who steps over the line at the edge of the floor.
Perfect ten The highest score a routine could earn before 2006.
Podium The official practice before a competition begins is called this kind of training.
Protest A written complaint asking the judges to look again at a score.
Routine A sequence of skills performed on one apparatus.
Score Two marks added together, one for difficulty and one for execution.
Specialist A gymnast whose strength lies in just one or two events.
Spotter Someone standing by to catch a falling athlete or soften the fall.
Start value Before 2006, the most a routine could score before points came off for mistakes.
Stick To land a skill perfectly, with no step or stumble.
Warmup The time before training when a gymnast gets the muscles ready.

How this list was compiled: Gymnastics words chosen and defined for this site in six themed lists (events and disciplines; in the gym; tumbling skills and shapes; swings, holds and vaulting; rhythmic and acrobatic; meets and scoring), with a favorites list, an easy list and a hard list. Terms were checked on 2026-10-16 against the English Wikipedia articles Gymnastics, Glossary of gymnastics terms, Artistic gymnastics, Rhythmic gymnastics, Acrobatic gymnastics, Aerobic gymnastics, Trampolining, Trampoline, Tumbling (sport), Balance beam, Uneven bars, Vault (gymnastics), Floor (gymnastics), Pommel horse, Rings (gymnastics), Parallel bars, Horizontal bar, Cartwheel (gymnastics), Handstand, Roundoff, Handspring (gymnastics), Somersault, Flip (acrobatic), Split (gymnastics), Bridge (exercise), Kip (artistic gymnastics), Giant (gymnastics), Grip (gymnastics), Leotard, Gymnasium (ancient Greece) and the articles on the rhythmic ribbon, hoop, clubs and rope, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_gymnastics_terms (CC BY-SA 4.0), and spellings against Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/. Every meaning is in our own words. No gymnast, team, club, competition or brand is named, no skill that carries a person's name is listed, and apparatus sizes and routine lengths that change with the level are left out, except the four-inch width of the beam. Licence: own work

How it works

This printable gymnastics word search opens on Vault, Beam, Bars, Floor and Rings, the skills Cartwheel, Handstand and Somersault, and Chalk, Leotard and Dismount. Every word has a one-line meaning.

Read the full guide

Gymnastics word search printables, list by list

Start from a list has Events and Disciplines (Pommel horse, Uneven bars, All-around), In the Gym (Springboard, Grips, Foam pit), Tumbling Skills and Shapes (Roundoff, Pike, Straddle), Swings, Holds and Vaulting (Kip, Giant, Iron cross), Rhythmic and Acrobatic (Ribbon, Hoop, Pyramid) and Meets and Scoring (Judge, Deduction, Stick).

An easy list and a hard one

For a gymnastic word search printable that suits a beginner, pick Easy Gymnastics: 59 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Mat, Tuck, Flip, Roll and Leap. Hard Gymnastics has 20 long ones, Springboard, Arabesque and Handspring among them.

Tick Show clues, not words in More options: "The sport's own word for a somersault." then stands for Salto.
Two-word terms are hidden as one run of letters: BALANCEBEAM, POMMELHORSE, IRONCROSS and TOESHOES.

Questions and answers

What are the four events in women's gymnastics?

Women's artistic gymnastics has four events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Men compete on six: floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar. The all-around scores one gymnast on every apparatus.

What is the difference between a cartwheel and a roundoff?

In a cartwheel the hands go down one at a time and the feet land one at a time. In a roundoff both feet land together and the gymnast ends up facing the way they came, which turns a run into backward speed.

How is gymnastics scored?

In artistic gymnastics two marks are added together. The difficulty score rises with the skills in a routine and has no upper limit. The execution score starts at ten and loses points for mistakes. Before 2006 the top mark was a perfect ten.

Why do gymnasts use chalk?

Chalk keeps the hands from slipping. It is a white powder, typically magnesium carbonate, put on the hands and the apparatus. On the bars and the rings many gymnasts also wear leather grips, which guard the palms against blisters and rips.

All 161 words

Events and Disciplines 20

Events and Disciplines, continued

In the Gym 30

Tumbling Skills and Shapes 27

Swings, Holds and Vaulting 25

Rhythmic and Acrobatic 29

Meets and Scoring 30

How it works

Gymnastics word search printables, list by list

An easy list and a hard one

Questions and answers

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