Illinois Word Search Printable

Windy City, Cahokia, Tully Monster and 13 more Illinois words to find; print the grid with its answer key.

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Illinois Word Search

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0 of 16 words found

LCEPEORIATBIOTI

RETOTRTLRAHDOYT

RIUJOYWLHDDWSMG

MILLENNIUMPARKR

GALENAXNDTFCEVE

NJYAOYBISONAWIA

AOMHMLRWUGUHIOT

VGOETETENIWONLF

YWNBLACKHAWKDEI

PESCARDINALIYTR

ISTOCKYARDSACIE

EDEUTLEGTMSRIMC

RURLWJGPWMPITJA

OENESOYBEANRYBO

RIHTNPUMPKINDEH

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.

PeoriaPEORIA
GalenaGALENA
Windy CityWINDY CITY
Navy PierNAVY PIER
Millennium ParkMILLENNIUM PARK
Great FireGREAT FIRE
StockyardsSTOCKYARDS
CardinalCARDINAL
VioletVIOLET
Tully MonsterTULLY MONSTER
SoybeanSOYBEAN
PumpkinPUMPKIN
Black HawkBLACK HAWK
IlliniwekILLINIWEK
CahokiaCAHOKIA
BisonBISON

16 of 25 words from the Illinois Favorites list.

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Answer key: Illinois Word Search

LCEPEORIATBIOTI

RETOTRTLRAHDOYT

RIUJOYWLHDDWSMG

MILLENNIUMPARKR

GALENAXNDTFCEVE

NJYAOYBISONAWIA

AOMHMLRWUGUHIOT

VGOETETENIWONLF

YWNBLACKHAWKDEI

PESCARDINALIYTR

ISTOCKYARDSACIE

EDEUTLEGTMSRIMC

RURLWJGPWMPITJA

OENESOYBEANRYBO

RIHTNPUMPKINDEH

PEORIA, GALENA, WINDY CITY, NAVY PIER, MILLENNIUM PARK, GREAT FIRE, STOCKYARDS, CARDINAL, VIOLET, TULLY MONSTER, SOYBEAN, PUMPKIN, BLACK HAWK, ILLINIWEK, CAHOKIA, BISON

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All 168 words

Illinois Cities and Towns 29

Alton Town on the bluffs above the Mississippi near the mouth of the Missouri.
Aurora City on the Fox River nicknamed the City of Lights.
Cairo Town at the southern tip, where the Ohio meets the Mississippi.
Carbondale College town in the south, near the Shawnee National Forest.
Champaign Twin of Urbana; together they share the main campus of the state university.
Chicago Largest city in the state, on the southwest shore of Lake Michigan.
Decatur City on the Sangamon River known for processing corn and soybeans.
DeKalb Town that grew rich making barbed wire.
Dixon Rock River town that was the boyhood home of a president.
Elgin City on the Fox River once famous for its watches.
Evanston Lakeshore city just north of Chicago, home of Northwestern University.
Galena Hill town in the northwest corner named for lead ore, home of General Grant.
Galesburg Railroad town that was the birthplace of the poet Carl Sandburg.
Joliet City on the Des Plaines River, southwest of Chicago.
Kaskaskia Old French village, now cut off west of the Mississippi, that served as the capital at statehood.
Moline One of the Quad Cities on the Mississippi, known for farm machinery.

Show all 168 words (152 more)

Illinois Cities and Towns, continued

Naperville Suburb west of Chicago on the DuPage River.
Nauvoo Town on the Mississippi built by Latter-day Saints before their journey west.
Normal Town whose odd name comes from an old word for a teachers' college.
Oak Park Village beside Chicago with many early houses by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Olney Town in the southeast known for its white squirrels.
Ottawa Town where the Fox meets the Illinois, site of a famous debate.
Pekin City on the Illinois River just south of Peoria.
Peoria City on a wide stretch of the Illinois River.
Quincy Mississippi River town on bluffs in the far west.
Rock Island Mississippi River city named for an isle that holds an old arsenal.
Rockford Northern city that grew up at a shallow crossing of the Rock River.
Springfield State capital on the prairie, where the Lincoln family home is a national historic site.
Vandalia Town that was the capital before Springfield.

Chicago 26

Blues Electric style of music that grew up on the South Side.
Bronzeville South Side neighborhood that was a center of Black culture and business.
Bungalow Low brick house found in block after block of the neighborhoods.
Chicago River Waterway whose flow engineers reversed; it is dyed green each March.
Cloud Gate Official name of the shiny bean-shaped sculpture.
Deep Dish Thick pizza baked in a round pan.
Drawbridge Span that lifts to let boats pass.
Grant Park Big green space between downtown and the lake, with Buckingham Fountain.
Great Fire Disaster that burned the center of the city, after which it was rebuilt in brick and steel.
Hot Dog Sausage in a poppy seed bun, topped the local way with no ketchup.
Hull House Settlement founded by Jane Addams to help immigrant families.
Improv Unscripted comedy, an art taught in the theaters of the city.
Italian Beef Sandwich of thin-sliced roast meat dipped in its juices.
Lakefront Miles of public parks and beaches along Lake Michigan.
Loop Downtown district ringed by elevated train tracks.
Michigan Avenue Grand street that crosses the river on a famous drawbridge.
Millennium Park Downtown green with a mirrored sculpture nicknamed the Bean.
Mother Road Nickname of the old highway to California that began downtown.
Navy Pier Long dock on the lake with a tall Ferris wheel.
O'Hare Name of the busy international airport, honoring a navy pilot.
Pullman Planned company town of a railroad car maker, now a national historical park.
Stockyards Pens where cattle and hogs arrived by rail for the meatpackers.
Sue Nickname of a famous Tyrannosaurus skeleton in a museum by the lake.
Water Tower Limestone landmark that survived the great blaze.
White City Nickname of the gleaming fairgrounds built for a world's fair.
Windy City Best-known nickname of Chicago.

Illinois Prairies and Rivers 26

American Bottom Flood plain of the Mississippi across from St. Louis.
Bluff Steep bank above a river valley, as at Alton and Starved Rock.
Cache River Southern stream with swamps of ancient cypress trees.
Cave-in-Rock State park at a wide cavern in a bluff on the Ohio River.
Charles Mound Gentle hill near the Wisconsin line that is the top of the state.
Confluence Meeting place of rivers, as at Cairo and near Alton.
Des Plaines River that joins the Kankakee to form the Illinois.
Embarras River of the southeast whose French name has also been spelled Ambraw.
Flyway Route that migrating birds follow along the Mississippi.
Fox River Stream that flows south through Elgin and Aurora.
Giant City State park in the south named for its streets of huge sandstone blocks.
Illinois River Largest stream inside the state, flowing southwest to the Mississippi.
Lake Michigan Body of fresh water that gives Chicago its long shoreline of parks.
Little Egypt Nickname of the state's southern tip.
Lock and Dam Gate and wall that let barges step down a river.
Loess Wind-blown silt that builds the hills along the Mississippi.
Midewin National tallgrass prairie near Joliet, on the land of an old arsenal.
Palisades Name of the line of cliffs above the Mississippi near Savanna.
Prairie Sea of grass and wildflowers that once covered much of the state.
Rock River Stream that crosses the northwest from Wisconsin to the Mississippi.
Sangamon River near Springfield on which young Lincoln floated a flatboat.
Shawnee Hills Rugged uplands of the south, covered by a national forest.
Sod Thick mat of grass roots and soil that settlers had to break.
Starved Rock State park of sandstone canyons and a bluff above the Illinois River.
Tallgrass Kind of prairie with grasses higher than a person's head.
Towpath Trail beside an old canal where mules pulled the boats.

Illinois State Symbols 19

Big Bluestem State prairie grass.
Bluegill State fish, a round panfish of ponds and lakes.
Cardinal State bird, bright red with a pointed crest.
Dolostone State rock.
Drummer Name of the dark prairie silt loam chosen as a state symbol.
Fluorite State mineral, once mined in the far south.
Land of Lincoln State slogan, seen on license plates.
Milk Snake The eastern kind, a harmless banded reptile, is a state symbol.
Monarch State insect, which lays its eggs on milkweed.
Painted Turtle State reptile, often seen basking on logs.
Pirogue Dugout canoe named the state artifact.
Popcorn State snack food.
Prairie State Nickname that recalls the grasslands the settlers found.
Pumpkin Pie State pie.
Salamander The eastern tiger kind is the state amphibian.
Sweet Corn Official state vegetable, picked in summer and eaten off the cob.
Tully Monster State fossil, a soft-bodied sea animal from the coal country of the state.
Violet State flower, a small purple bloom of spring lawns and woods.
White Oak State tree.

Illinois Farms and Industries 21

Barbed Wire Fencing with sharp points, made famous by DeKalb.
Barge Flat-bottomed freight boat of the Illinois River.
Brownie Chocolate bar cake that a Chicago hotel claims to have created.
Corn Belt Region of deep soil where the chief grain of the Midwest is grown.
Dishwasher Kitchen machine invented by Josephine Cochrane of Shelbyville.
Ethanol Fuel made from corn.
Farm Machine Tractor, planter or combine, built in Moline and Peoria.
Fermilab National laboratory at Batavia where scientists study tiny particles.
Grain Bin Round metal storehouse for a harvest.
Horseradish Sharp-tasting root grown around Collinsville.
Mail Order Selling by catalog, a business that grew up in Chicago.
Meatpacking Industry that once made Chicago the butcher for the country.
Penicillium Mold behind a lifesaving medicine; a famous strain came from a cantaloupe in Peoria.
Pinball Arcade game whose makers clustered in Chicago.
Pumpkin Orange squash canned at Morton.
Reaper Horse-drawn grain harvester built in a big Chicago factory.
Soybean Bean crop that shares the fields with corn; the state is among the top growers.
Steel Plow Tool that cut the sticky prairie sod, made by a blacksmith at Grand Detour.
Tollway Highway that drivers pay to use.
Towboat Powerful vessel that pushes strings of barges.
Wind Farm Group of tall turbines in a field.

Illinois History 22

Bishop Hill Village founded by Swedish settlers as a religious colony.
Black Hawk Sauk leader who fought to return to his homeland in 1832.
Cahokia Ancient city of earthen mounds near Collinsville.
Canal Dug waterway; the Illinois and Michigan one linked the Great Lakes with the Mississippi.
Debate Contest of speeches; Lincoln and Douglas held a famous series across the state.
Du Sable Trader of African descent honored as the founder of Chicago.
Fort de Chartres French stronghold of stone near the Mississippi.
Fort Dearborn Army post built where the Chicago River met the lake.
Grant General and president who lived at Galena.
Great Migration Movement of Black families from the South to Chicago and other northern cities.
Illiniwek Group of Native nations that gave the state its name.
Jane Addams Founder of Hull House who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jolliet Explorer who traveled through with Father Marquette in 1673.
Lincoln President who rose from a frontier lawyer in Springfield.
Lovejoy Family name of Elijah, the Alton editor who wrote against slavery.
Monks Mound Great flat-topped earthwork at the heart of Cahokia.
New Salem Village on the Sangamon where the future president kept a store.
Prairie Style Low, wide look of the houses Frank Lloyd Wright designed.
Reagan President born at Tampico who grew up in Dixon.
Sandburg Family name of Carl, the poet who called Chicago the City of the Big Shoulders.
Sauk Native nation whose great town stood where the Rock River meets the Mississippi.
Statehood Step taken in 1818, when Illinois became state number twenty-one.

Illinois Wildlife and Prairie Plants 25

Bison Shaggy grazer brought back to prairie preserves.
Black-eyed Susan Golden wildflower with a dome of dark brown at its heart.
Blackbird The red-winged kind calls from every marsh and ditch.
Blazing Star Feathery purple wand of the summer prairie.
Bobolink Black and white bird that sings while fluttering over hayfields.
Bullsnake Large, harmless snake of sandy prairies.
Bur Oak Thick-barked tree that survived prairie fires.
Compass Plant Tall prairie flower whose leaves line up north and south.
Coneflower Purple daisy with a spiky center.
Fox The red kind hunts mice along field edges.
Fritillary The regal kind is a rare orange butterfly of native prairie.
Ground Squirrel The striped kind stands upright beside its burrow.
Hackberry Tree with warty gray bark.
Indiangrass Golden plumed grass of late summer.
Kestrel Small falcon that hovers over roadsides.
Meadowlark Yellow-breasted songbird of open fields.
Osage Orange Thorny tree planted as living fences; its fruit is a bumpy green ball.
Otter Sleek river animal returned to the streams of the state.
Prairie Chicken Grouse whose males boom and dance on spring mornings.
Prairie Dock Plant with huge rough leaves and a tall stalk of yellow blooms.
Sauger River fish related to the walleye.
Shooting Star Spring wildflower with swept-back petals.
Silver Carp Fish from Asia that leaps from the Illinois River when boats pass.
Snow Goose White bird that fills the sky over the river valleys in late winter.
Switchgrass Clump-forming grass of prairies and roadsides.

How this list was compiled: Own work. Words and names about the state of Illinois, chosen and described for children: seven themed lists (cities and towns, Chicago, prairies and rivers, state symbols, farms and industries, history, wildlife and prairie plants), Illinois Favorites, an easy list of every word of 3 to 5 letters and a hard list of every word of 8 letters or more. The grid keeps only the letters A to Z, so Cave-in-Rock is hidden as CAVEINROCK and O'Hare as OHARE. Entries have 3 to 14 letters once spaces, hyphens and apostrophes are dropped, and inside one list no word sits inside another, forwards or backwards. Clues are our own wording; no clue repeats a word of four letters or more from its own entry. No brand, team, living person or drink is listed. American spellings. Places, names and state symbols were checked on 3 October 2026 against the English Wikipedia article Illinois, its list of Illinois state symbols and the article for each entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois, license CC BY-SA 4.0). The largest city, the largest river, the highest point, the soybean crop and the years 1673, 1818 and 1832 were checked the same day in a second work, Store norske leksikon (https://snl.no/Illinois_-_delstat_i_USA). Where no second work gave a figure or a record, the clue leaves it out. Unofficial and not affiliated with the State of Illinois; an educational puzzle, so check the official source before you rely on a fact. Licence: own work

How it works

This Illinois word search opens with Peoria, Galena, Navy Pier, Black Hawk and 12 more favorites. Start from a list has seven themed lists: cities and towns, Chicago, prairies and rivers, state symbols, farms and industries, history and wildlife.

Read the full guide

A whole list for Chicago

The Chicago list has Windy City, Loop, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, Great Fire, Water Tower, Stockyards and Chicago River, with food words for a break: Deep Dish, Hot Dog and Italian Beef. Sue, three letters long, is the nickname of a Tyrannosaurus skeleton in a museum by the lake.

A state fossil called a monster

Illinois State Symbols has the Tully Monster, a soft-bodied sea animal named the state fossil, beside Cardinal, Violet, White Oak, Bluegill and Monarch. Stranger entries follow: Drummer is the state soil, Dolostone the state rock and Pirogue the state artifact.

Easy Illinois has the words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Sue, Sod, Fox, Loop, Sauk, Cairo, Bluff and Bison.
Cave-in-Rock and Black-eyed Susan lose their hyphens in the grid: CAVEINROCK and BLACKEYEDSUSAN.

Questions and answers

Is Abraham Lincoln in the Illinois word search?

Yes. Illinois History has Lincoln, New Salem and Debate, with Grant, Reagan and Jane Addams. Land of Lincoln, the state slogan, is in Illinois State Symbols, and Springfield, where his family home stands, is in Illinois Cities and Towns.

Which Illinois state symbols are in the puzzle?

Cardinal (state bird), Violet (state flower), White Oak (state tree), Bluegill (state fish), Monarch (state insect), Painted Turtle (state reptile), Tully Monster (state fossil), Fluorite (state mineral), Popcorn (state snack food), Sweet Corn (state vegetable) and Pumpkin Pie (state pie).

What Native nations does it name?

Illiniwek, the group of nations that gave the state its name, Sauk and their leader Black Hawk are in Illinois History, with Cahokia and Monks Mound, the ancient city and its great earthwork near Collinsville.

How do I get a printable copy with answers?

Press Print or save as PDF. The puzzle prints with a Name and Date line and the answer key prints after it on its own page. New puzzle makes a fresh grid first.

All 168 words

Illinois Cities and Towns 29

Illinois Cities and Towns, continued

Chicago 26

Illinois Prairies and Rivers 26

Illinois State Symbols 19

Illinois Farms and Industries 21

Illinois History 22

Illinois Wildlife and Prairie Plants 25

How it works

A whole list for Chicago

A state fossil called a monster

Questions and answers

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