Mystery Vocabulary Worksheet

Press Print worksheet to match twelve mystery words, from clue and suspect to red herring, to their meanings.

A sample is on the sheet. What you type replaces it.

What you type stays in your browser. Nothing is sent to us.

NameDateMade at homeroomtools.comDraw a line from each one on the left to its partner on the right.Mystery vocabularymysterydetectivecluesuspectalibimotivered herringwitnessevidenceculpritcrimevictima false clue that leads away fromthe real answera person thought to have done acrimea person who saw an event, suchas a crime, happensomething a person does that thelaw forbidswhat drives a person to commit acrimeanything that helps show a claimis true or falsea tale of a strange crime or event,explained at the endproof that a person wassomewhere else during a crimethe one who is guilty of the wrongor the crimea person whose job is to find outwho did a crimesomeone hurt, or left worse off,by a crimesomething that points toward theanswer to a puzzle
NameDateMade at homeroomtools.comDraw a line from each one on the left to its partner on the right.Mystery vocabularyAnswer keymysterydetectivecluesuspectalibimotivered herringwitnessevidenceculpritcrimevictima false clue that leads away fromthe real answera person thought to have done acrimea person who saw an event, suchas a crime, happensomething a person does that thelaw forbidswhat drives a person to commit acrimeanything that helps show a claimis true or falsea tale of a strange crime or event,explained at the endproof that a person wassomewhere else during a crimethe one who is guilty of the wrongor the crimea person whose job is to find outwho did a crimesomeone hurt, or left worse off,by a crimesomething that points toward theanswer to a puzzle
More options

Next step Next: hidden message word search

All 36 words

Mystery words 12

  • alibi Proof that a person was somewhere else during a crime. "Her alibi was simple: she was at the dentist at four o'clock."
  • clue Something that points toward the answer to a puzzle. "A muddy boot print was the first clue."
  • crime Something a person does that the law forbids. "Taking the painting was a crime."
  • culprit The one who is guilty of the wrong or the crime. "In the end, the culprit was the cat."
  • detective A person whose job is to find out who did a crime. "The detective asked everyone where they had been at noon."
  • evidence Anything that helps show a claim is true or false. "The paint on his sleeve was evidence that he had been in the studio."
  • motive What drives a person to commit a crime. "Jealousy was his motive for hiding the trophy."
  • mystery A tale of a strange crime or event, explained at the end. "The class read a mystery about a missing painting."
  • red herring A false clue that leads away from the real answer. "The torn ticket was a red herring. It had nothing to do with the theft."
  • suspect A person thought to have done a crime. "The gardener was the first suspect."
  • victim Someone hurt, or left worse off, by a crime. "The victim of the theft was the school librarian."
  • witness A person who saw an event, such as a crime, happen. "One witness saw a tall figure leave by the side door."
Show all 36 words (24 more)

Detective work 12

  • accomplice A partner who helps carry out a crime. "His accomplice waited outside in the van."
  • accuse To state that a certain person is to blame. "The cook was quick to accuse the gardener."
  • confess To admit to having done something wrong. "At last the thief decided to confess."
  • deduce To reason from what is known to a conclusion. "From the wet umbrella she could deduce that he had been outside."
  • disguise Clothes or other things worn to hide who someone is. "A wig and a false beard were his disguise."
  • eavesdrop To listen in secret to what others say in private. "She stood by the door to eavesdrop."
  • fingerprint The print made by the ridges on a fingertip. "There was a fingerprint on the glass."
  • hunch A guess based on a feeling, not on proof. "I have a hunch that the key never left this room."
  • interrogate To question someone at length and in a thorough way. "The inspector began to interrogate the driver."
  • investigate To search for the facts about a crime or a problem. "Two officers came to investigate the break-in."
  • lead A piece of information that points to more facts in a case. "The phone call gave the police a new lead."
  • stakeout A long, secret watch kept on a place or a person. "The stakeout lasted all night."

The mystery story 12

  • breakthrough A sudden big step toward solving a problem. "The matching key was the breakthrough."
  • cipher A system of secret writing that only some can read. "In the cipher, each letter stood for the one after it."
  • cliffhanger An ending that stops at a tense moment with nothing settled. "The chapter ends on a cliffhanger, with the lights going out."
  • cold case A crime left unsolved for a long time. "A letter found in the attic reopened the cold case."
  • dead end A point where no more progress can be made. "Every clue so far had led to a dead end."
  • hideout A secret spot to hide in and come back to. "The old boathouse was the gang's hideout."
  • mastermind The person who plans a difficult scheme, often a crime. "The mastermind behind the theft never entered the museum."
  • plot twist A sudden, unexpected turn in a story. "The plot twist: the detective's own friend had the map."
  • private eye A detective for hire who works for private clients. "The family hired a private eye to find the necklace."
  • sleuth A detective; in old use the word meant a bloodhound. "The young sleuth wrote every clue in a notebook."
  • suspense The nervous excitement of not knowing what comes next. "The last chapter kept the whole class in suspense."
  • whodunit A story whose puzzle is finding out who did the crime. The word is a playful spelling of "Who done it?"

How this list was compiled: Word list chosen for this site on 2026-10-09. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day in two dictionaries: the entry for the term in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and the entry in the Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/). Lead was read in the sense of information in a case in both. The articles Mystery fiction, Whodunit, Red herring, Cold case and Private investigator of English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license were read for the words of the genre. The sentence after each meaning is our own and names no published story. Licence: own work

How it works

This mystery vocabulary worksheet prints twelve words to match to their meanings: mystery, detective, clue, suspect, alibi, motive, red herring, witness, evidence, culprit, crime and victim. Two more sets cover detective work and the mystery story.

Read the full guide

Detective work

In Set, Detective work prints investigate, deduce, interrogate, hunch, fingerprint, disguise, stakeout, lead, eavesdrop, confess, accuse and accomplice.

A mystery genre vocabulary worksheet

The mystery story holds the words of the genre: whodunit, suspense, plot twist, cliffhanger, sleuth, private eye, mastermind, cold case, dead end, breakthrough, cipher and hideout. Under the tool each word sits in a sentence, such as "A muddy boot print was the first clue."

  • The list has no word for a killing, a weapon or a poison. The crimes in the examples are thefts and tricks.

Questions and answers

What is a red herring in a mystery?

A false clue: something that draws attention away from the real answer. A writer may plant one to lead readers toward the wrong suspect, so that the ending comes as a surprise.

What are the elements of a mystery story?

A crime or a puzzling event, a detective, a circle of suspects who each have a motive, clues given to the reader along the way, and a solution at the end that is reasoned from the facts.

What is the difference between a motive and an alibi?

A motive is a reason a person might have had for the crime. An alibi is proof that the person was somewhere else when it happened. One suspect can have both.

What is a whodunit?

A detective story in which the main puzzle is who committed the crime. The reader is given the clues and can try to name the culprit before the story does.

More tools

Show 6 more

Browse Handwriting