Movies Word Search Printable for Film Clubs and Movie Nights

Press New puzzle for 15 film words, from Director to Popcorn, with no movie titles to argue over.

Name Date

Movies Word Search

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

0 of 15 words found

DTLSNDDGCARTOON

MEATULNGRNHZROI

GCCOSTUMELWWORE

QSTTWHAEDGFRWIO

AAOVILLAINESNSK

CERMESRVTYSOMRT

TWOEMRPISYCUBAA

ILMATINEEERNAFX

OARJPRDDQOIDEIU

NWWRONHKUEPTTDF

UUAKPECIEETRGDM

PSDSCENELTRAHGP

ZHOAOENOAMMCENT

PEWTRAILERAKLIE

TRMTNMYSTERYFOT

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.

ActorACTOR
ActionACTION
SceneSCENE
CostumeCOSTUME
ScriptSCRIPT
VillainVILLAIN
SequelSEQUEL
MysteryMYSTERY
CartoonCARTOON
SoundtrackSOUNDTRACK
CreditsCREDITS
PopcornPOPCORN
UsherUSHER
MatineeMATINEE
TrailerTRAILER

15 of 24 words from the Movies list.

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Answer key: Movies Word Search

DTLSNDDGCARTOON

MEATULNGRNHZROI

GCCOSTUMELWWORE

QSTTWHAEDGFRWIO

AAOVILLAINESNSK

CERMESRVTYSOMRT

TWOEMRPISYCUBAA

ILMATINEEERNAFX

OARJPRDDQOIDEIU

NWWRONHKUEPTTDF

UUAKPECIEETRGDM

PSDSCENELTRAHGP

ZHOAOENOAMMCENT

PEWTRAILERAKLIE

TRMTNMYSTERYFOT

ACTOR, ACTION, SCENE, COSTUME, SCRIPT, VILLAIN, SEQUEL, MYSTERY, CARTOON, SOUNDTRACK, CREDITS, POPCORN, USHER, MATINEE, TRAILER

Next step Make a word search from your own film words Make a movie word scramble

All 139 words

Cast and Crew 19

Actor A person who plays a part in a film or a play.
Actress A woman or girl who plays a part in a film or a play.
Animator An artist who makes drawings or models seem to move, one frame at a time.
Cameo A brief appearance by a well-known person, often with no lines to say.
Cast All the actors in a film.
Composer The person who writes the music for a film.
Crew Everyone who works behind the camera.
Director The person in charge of how a film is acted and shot, scene by scene.
Editor The person who picks the best takes and joins them into the finished film.
Extra A person in the background of a scene, such as a shopper or a face in a crowd.
Gaffer The head electrician on a film crew, in charge of the lighting.
Grip A crew member who sets up and moves the gear that carries the camera, such as dollies and cranes.
Narrator The voice that tells the story from outside the scene.
Producer The person who finds the money, hires the team and keeps the film on schedule.
Puppeteer A performer who works a figure on strings or rods, usually hidden from the camera.
Star The best-known actor in a film, whose name comes first on the poster.
Stuntman A trained performer who takes an actor's place when a scene is risky.
Wrangler The crew member who looks after the animals on a set.
Writer The person who creates the script, including every line the actors speak.

Show all 139 words (120 more)

On the Set 21

Action What the director calls to start a take. Also a kind of movie full of chases and stunts.
Backlot An outdoor part of a studio with streets and house fronts built for filming.
Boom A long pole that holds a microphone above the actors, just out of the shot.
Camera The machine that records the picture. The name is short for a two-word Latin phrase that means dark room.
Clapperboard The hinged slate snapped shut before each take. The sharp crack lets the editor line up sound and picture.
Costume The clothes an actor wears to become a character.
Crane A long arm that lifts the camera high above the set.
Cut What the director calls to stop a take. Also the join where one shot ends and the next begins.
Dolly A wheeled cart that carries the camera, often on a track, so that it glides smoothly.
Lens The curved glass at the front of a camera that gathers the light.
Location A real place away from the studio where scenes are filmed.
Makeup Color and paint for the face, used to age an actor, add a scar or build a creature.
Megaphone A cone that makes a voice louder. Directors used one to be heard across a big, noisy set.
Microphone The device that picks up voices and sounds for recording.
Prop Any object an actor handles in a scene, such as a cup, a map or a lantern. Short for property.
Rehearsal A practice run of a scene before the camera rolls.
Scene One part of the story, in one place at one time. The word comes from the Greek for stage.
Set The place built or dressed for filming a scene.
Take One filmed try at a shot. A director may ask for many before moving on.
Tripod A three-legged stand that holds a camera steady.
Wardrobe The department that makes, fits and looks after the costumes.

Script and Story 19

Adaptation A film made from a book, a play or a comic.
Backstory What happened to a character before the film begins.
Chase A scene in which one character races after another.
Cliffhanger An ending that leaves a character in trouble, so you come back for the next part.
Climax The most exciting point, where the main problem comes to a head.
Dialogue The words the characters say to each other.
Flashback A scene that jumps back to show something that happened earlier.
Hero The main character, the one the audience hopes will win.
Monologue A long speech by one character.
Plot The chain of events that makes up the story.
Prequel A film set before the story of an earlier one. The word was made up to match sequel.
Remake A new film of a story that has been filmed before.
Script The written text of a film. In film layout, one page comes to roughly one minute on screen.
Sequel A film that carries a story on after an earlier film. From the Latin for to follow.
Storyboard A row of sketches, like a comic strip, that plans each shot before filming.
Suspense The tense feeling of waiting to find out what happens.
Trilogy A set of three films that tell one long story.
Twist A surprise that changes how you see the whole story.
Villain The character who works against the hero.

Kinds of Movies 19

Adventure A story about an exciting and risky journey.
Animation Film made from drawings, models or computer images. Hand-drawn films often use 12 drawings a second.
Anime Animation from Japan. The Japanese word is a short form of the English word animation.
Biography The true story of one person's life. A film of one is often called a biopic.
Cartoon A short animated film, usually funny. The word once meant an artist's first sketch.
Comedy A film made to make you laugh.
Documentary A film about real people and events. The word was first used for a film in a 1926 newspaper review.
Drama A serious story about people and their problems.
Epic A long film on a grand scale, with huge sets and crowds.
Fantasy A story set in a world of magic and made-up creatures.
Musical A film in which the characters sing and dance as part of the story.
Mystery A story with a puzzle to solve, often a crime.
Silent A film with no recorded speech. In the theater, live musicians played along.
Slapstick Comedy built on falls and crashes. Named for two wooden slats that stage clowns used to make a loud slap.
Spy A story about secret agents and the secrets they are after.
Swashbuckler An adventure with sword fights, daring escapes and a cheerful hero.
Thriller A tense story that keeps you guessing until the end.
Western A story of the American frontier, most often set in the 1800s, with cowboys and ranch towns.
Whodunit A mystery in which you try to work out who did it. The word was coined in 1930.

Editing and Sound 20

Blooper A funny mistake by the cast or crew, saved for a gag reel.
Caption On-screen text for viewers who cannot hear the sound. It covers noises and music as well as speech.
Credits The list of everyone who worked on the film, shown at the start or the end.
Dissolve When one picture melts slowly into the next.
Dubbing Recording new voices over the picture, often in another language.
Effects Tricks that show what cannot be filmed for real, such as a flying car.
Fade When the picture slowly turns to black, or slowly appears out of it.
Film A strip of clear plastic that records pictures. The word now also means the movie itself.
Foley Footsteps, doors and other everyday sounds recorded after filming. The craft takes its name from an early sound-effects artist.
Footage Film that has been shot. The name is left over from the days when film was measured in feet.
Frame One single picture on a strip of film. Sound films show 24 of them every second.
Miniature A small model filmed up close so that it looks full size.
Montage A run of short shots, often set to music, that squeezes a long time into a minute. French for assembly.
Pan To swing the camera from side to side. Short for panorama.
Score The music written for a film.
Soundtrack Everything a film lets you hear. It began as a narrow strip down the side of the film itself.
Splice To join two pieces of film end to end.
Subtitle Words at the bottom of the screen that show what is said, often translated from another language.
Transition The way one shot changes to the next, such as a cut, a fade or a wipe.
Zoom To make the subject look nearer or farther by changing the lens while the camera stays put.

At the Theater 23

Aisle The walkway between blocks of seats.
Applause Clapping to show you liked it.
Audience The people watching the film.
Blockbuster A hugely popular film. The word was first used for a film in 1943.
Cinema Another word for a movie theater, and for films as an art. From the Greek word for movement.
Concession The stand in the lobby that sells popcorn and drinks goes by this name.
Critic A person whose job is to watch films and write reviews of them.
Feature A full-length film, long enough to be the main item on the program.
Intermission A break in the middle of a very long film.
Lobby The entrance hall, where tickets and snacks are sold.
Marquee The lit sign over a theater entrance that lists what is showing.
Matinee A daytime showing, often at a lower price. From the French word for morning.
Multiplex A movie theater with many screens under one roof.
Popcorn The best-known movie snack. It caught on in theaters in the 1930s, when a bag cost 5 to 10 cents.
Poster A large printed picture that advertises a film.
Premiere The first public showing of a film. French for first.
Projector The machine that shines the film onto the screen.
Row A line of seats side by side.
Screen The large white surface the film is shown on.
Seat Your place to sit in the theater.
Ticket The slip you buy to get in. It shows the film, the time and sometimes the seat.
Trailer A short preview that shows key scenes from a coming film.
Usher A worker who checks tickets and shows people to their seats. From the Latin for doorkeeper.

Film History 18

Award A prize for the best work of the year.
Celluloid An early plastic that became the base of photographic film.
Ceremony A formal event where awards are handed out.
Crank The handle that wound early cameras by hand, so the speed could change within a scene.
Festival An event where new films are shown and judged. The oldest still running began in Venice in 1932.
Hollywood A Los Angeles neighborhood whose name came to stand for the whole American film industry.
Intertitle A card of printed words cut into a silent film to show speech or explain the action.
Kinetoscope An 1890s viewer for one person at a time, who watched a short film through a peephole.
Lantern The magic kind, developed in the 1600s, threw pictures painted on glass onto a wall.
Newsreel A short film of news, shown in theaters before the feature from the 1910s to the 1960s.
Nominee A person or a film picked as one of the finalists for an award.
Paris The French capital, where the Lumiere brothers held their first paid public film show on December 28, 1895.
Pianist In the silent era this musician often played live in the theater to go with the film.
Pioneer One of the first people to try something new, such as the film makers of the 1890s.
Restoration Cleaning and repairing an old film so that it can be shown again.
Statuette A small figure on a base, the usual shape of a film award.
Talkie An old name for a film with recorded speech. The first feature-length one opened in 1927.
Zoetrope A spinning drum with slits. Look through them and the pictures inside seem to move.

How this list was compiled: 139 film-making and movie theater words chosen and defined for this site: seven themed lists (cast and crew, on the set, script and story, kinds of movies, editing and sound, at the theater, film history), a 24-word starter list, 12 short words and every word of 8 letters or more. The list holds no film title, no character, no studio, no streaming service, no brand and no trademarked award name; Hollywood and Paris are place names, and Foley and Blockbuster are used in their dictionary senses only. Facts were checked on 18 September 2026 in English Wikipedia, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ followed by Clapperboard, Gaffer_(occupation), Grip_(occupation), Foley_(sound_design), Popcorn, Frame_rate, Traditional_animation, Screenplay, Documentary_film, Slapstick, Western_(genre), Biographical_film, Cameo_appearance, Camera_dolly, Megaphone, Closed_captioning, Blockbuster_(entertainment), Film_festival, Sound_film, Newsreel, Kinetoscope, Zoetrope, Celluloid, Hollywood,_Los_Angeles, Magic_lantern, Silent_film, Intertitle, Marquee_(structure), Trailer_(promotion), Blooper, Storyboard, Cliffhanger and Auguste_and_Louis_Lumi%C3%A8re, and word origins at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/matinee and the same address pattern. Licence: own work

How it works

From the crew and the set to the ticket booth, this movies word search printable covers how a film is made and shown. The starter list has 24 words, Director, Popcorn and Sequel among them.

Read the full guide

Match the list to the lesson

Cast and Crew works as a careers list, with jobs pupils rarely meet elsewhere, such as Gaffer, Grip and Wrangler. Script and Story doubles as a word bank for narrative writing: Flashback, Cliffhanger, Backstory, Twist. Editing and Sound suits a video club. All three are in the Start from a list row.

Film facts in the clues

Many of the 139 clues carry a checked fact. A clapperboard is snapped shut so that the editor can line up sound and picture by the clap. Popcorn caught on in theaters in the 1930s, when a bag cost 5 to 10 cents. Matinee comes from the French word for morning, and footage dates from the days when film was measured in feet.

The Paris clue, in Film History, dates the Lumiere brothers' first paid public film show: December 28, 1895.

Questions and answers

Why are there no film titles or characters in the lists?

Titles, characters and studio names belong to the companies that made them, and a class never settles on one film anyway. Words such as Sequel, Villain and Stuntman fit every movie. For your own movie night, type any title at the end of the word list under the grid.

How do I print the movies word search or save it as a PDF?

Press Print or save as PDF. The puzzle prints on the first page and the answer key on the second, on Letter or A4. To keep a file, choose Save as PDF as the printer.

Which list suits a class movie day?

Start with At the Theater, 23 words such as Ticket, Usher and Marquee. Press New puzzle between prints and every pupil gets a different grid, which keeps neighbors from copying while the film is set up.

Which movie clues carry a number?

Frame, Animation and Talkie, among others. Sound films show 24 frames every second, says the clue for Frame in Editing and Sound. Hand-drawn animation often uses 12 drawings a second, and the first feature-length talkie opened in 1927.

All 139 words

Cast and Crew 19

On the Set 21

Script and Story 19

Kinds of Movies 19

Editing and Sound 20

At the Theater 23

Film History 18

How it works

Match the list to the lesson

Film facts in the clues

Questions and answers

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