Nutrition Word Search

Find the nutrients and the food groups, then print the puzzle with its answer key.

Name Date

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

0 of 15 words found

TSRRUEFIBERYHPP

YNSMRUSPASTRSRT

NBNMAGCALORIEOW

URICEMSTARCHUTP

TEOASTEVNDDHTEF

RAOREAAECCTRNIF

IKHBRDIGESTIONR

TFWOVTVEDAIRYRU

IAUHICWTPHFPUNI

OSLYNTNARSRESLT

NTVDGWSBHRTTDWS

TGLRSLULEYYTPAJ

NRMAIBGEHJOLOAL

RSCTZDASIHOHZUR

AYSEEIRONERDTDA

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.

NutritionNUTRITION
ProteinPROTEIN
CarbohydrateCARBOHYDRATE
FiberFIBER
StarchSTARCH
SugarSUGAR
IronIRON
FruitsFRUITS
VegetablesVEGETABLES
DairyDAIRY
CalorieCALORIE
Serving sizeSERVING SIZE
DigestionDIGESTION
BreakfastBREAKFAST
BalancedBALANCED

15 of 23 words from the Nutrition list.

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Answer key: Nutrition Word Search

TSRRUEFIBERYHPP

YNSMRUSPASTRSRT

NBNMAGCALORIEOW

URICEMSTARCHUTP

TEOASTEVNDDHTEF

RAOREAAECCTRNIF

IKHBRDIGESTIONR

TFWOVTVEDAIRYRU

IAUHICWTPHFPUNI

OSLYNTNARSRESLT

NTVDGWSBHRTTDWS

TGLRSLULEYYTPAJ

NRMAIBGEHJOLOAL

RSCTZDASIHOHZUR

AYSEEIRONERDTDA

NUTRITION, PROTEIN, CARBOHYDRATE, FIBER, STARCH, SUGAR, IRON, FRUITS, VEGETABLES, DAIRY, CALORIE, SERVING SIZE, DIGESTION, BREAKFAST, BALANCED

Next step Type in the words of your own nutrition unit Make a nutrition word scramble

All 105 words

Nutrients 19

Amino acid A building block of protein. People cannot make nine of them and must get those from food.
Carbohydrate The family of sugars and starches. A gram gives about 4 Calories of energy.
Cholesterol A fat-like substance that every animal cell makes. It has a line of its own on a food label.
Electrolyte A mineral such as sodium or potassium that carries a charge when dissolved in a liquid.
Fat The food substance with the most energy for its weight: about 9 Calories in a gram.
Fiber The part of plant food that human digestive juices cannot fully break down.
Fructose A simple sugar found in many plants. Its name, coined in 1857, comes from the Latin for fruit.
Glucose The simple sugar that travels in the blood of animals.
Lactose The sugar in milk. Its name comes from lac, the Latin word for milk.
Lipid A science word for a broad family of substances that includes fats and waxes.
Mineral A chemical element that the body needs, such as calcium, iron or zinc.
Nutrient A substance that a living thing takes in and uses to live and grow.

Show all 105 words (93 more)

Nutrients, continued

Nutrition How a living thing takes in food and water and uses them to stay alive; also the science that studies it.
Protein A part of all body tissue, built from chains of amino acids. One of the five food groups carries its name.
Starch The carbohydrate that green plants store. Wheat, potatoes, corn and rice hold a lot of it.
Sucrose The main part of white table sugar: glucose and fructose joined together.
Sugar A sweet carbohydrate. The white kind in a bowl on the table is sucrose.
Vitamin One of 13 substances people need in small amounts, known by letters such as A, C and D.
Water Every living thing needs it. An average adult's body is about 60 percent this, by weight.

Vitamins and Minerals 19

Biotin Vitamin B7, one of the eight B vitamins.
Calcium A mineral. Of all that the body holds, 99 percent is in the bones and teeth.
Carotene A plant pigment that the body can turn into vitamin A. Its name comes from the Latin for carrot.
Chloride The partner of sodium in table salt.
Cobalamin The chemical name for vitamin B12.
Copper A trace mineral that is also a reddish metal.
Folate Vitamin B9. The name comes from the Latin for leaf, because it was found in dark green leaves.
Iodine A mineral the body needs to make thyroid hormones. Tiny amounts are mixed into some table salt.
Iron A mineral in red blood cells, where it helps carry oxygen from the lungs.
Magnesium One of the body's five major minerals. More than 300 enzymes need it to work.
Niacin Another name for vitamin B3.
Phosphorus A mineral that, with calcium, makes up the hard part of bones and teeth.
Potassium One of the body's five major minerals. Its chemical symbol is K, from the Latin name kalium.
Retinol A form of vitamin A found in food.
Riboflavin The everyday name of vitamin B2.
Sodium One of the two elements in table salt. A United States food label always lists it.
Sunlight When it falls on the skin, the skin's cells make one form of vitamin D.
Thiamine Vitamin B1 goes by this name.
Zinc A trace mineral: the body needs it, but only in very small amounts.

Food Groups 18

Bran The hard outer layer of a cereal seed.
Cereal A grass grown for its seeds, such as wheat or oats; also a breakfast food made from them.
Dairy A food group: milk and the foods made from it.
Eggs Laid by hens and eaten boiled, fried or scrambled.
Fruits A food group: the sweet, seed-bearing parts of plants.
Grains A food group: the seeds of grasses such as wheat, rice and oats, and the foods made from them.
Nuts Hard-shelled seeds and dry fruits with a kernel inside, such as almonds and pecans.
Oils Fats that are liquid at room temperature.
Plate The shape of the USDA's food guide picture from 2011 until January 2026.
Poultry Birds raised for food, such as chickens and turkeys.
Produce A store's word for fresh fruits and vegetables together.
Pulses The dry seeds of plants in the pea family, such as lentils, chickpeas and dried beans.
Pyramid The shape of the USDA's food guide picture from 1992 to 2011, and again from January 2026.
Seafood Fish and shellfish that people eat.
Seeds The parts of plants that can grow into new plants. Sunflower and sesame ones are eaten.
Staple A food eaten so often that it forms a main part of a people's diet, such as rice or corn.
Vegetables A food group: leaves, roots, stems and other plant parts eaten as food.
Whole grain A cereal seed with all three parts kept: endosperm, germ and bran.

Food Labels 15

Additive A substance put into food to keep it from spoiling or to change its taste or look.
Allergen A substance that sets off a bad reaction in some people. United States food labels must name the major ones.
Calorie A unit for the energy in what we eat. The word comes from the Latin for heat.
Daily value The percent on a United States food label that shows how much of one day's amount a serving gives.
Energy What a Calorie measures: the power that food gives a body to move, grow and keep warm.
Enriched Said of flour with iron and B vitamins added to it.
Fortified Said of a food that has had vitamins or minerals added to it.
Ingredient Any one of the things a food is made from, named in a list on the package.
Kilojoule A metric unit of food energy. One food Calorie is about 4.2 of them.
Label The printed panel on a package. The Nutrition Facts kind has been on United States food since 1994.
Milligram A unit of weight written mg. A thousand of them make the unit written g.
Package The box, bag, can or wrapper that a food is sold in.
Percent Out of each hundred. Its sign is %.
Saturated The kind of fat that has a line of its own on a nutrition label.
Serving size The amount of food that the numbers on a nutrition label are based on. The label begins with it.

From Food to Fuel 15

Absorb To soak up or take in, as the small intestine takes in broken-down food.
Chew To crush food between the teeth before it goes down the throat.
Diet Everything that a person or an animal usually eats and drinks.
Digestion The breaking down of food into parts small enough to pass into the blood.
Enzyme A substance, usually a protein, that speeds up a chemical change in a living thing.
Fuel Anything that is used up to give energy, as food is by the body.
Glycogen The form in which people store glucose, mainly in the liver and the muscles.
Growth The slow change of getting bigger and taller.
Hunger The feeling that tells you the body wants food.
Hydration The state of having taken in enough water.
Intestine The long tube that food enters after the stomach. Most nutrients are taken in through its small part.
Liver The organ that stores glycogen and makes bile.
Metabolism All the chemical changes inside living things, such as turning food into energy. From the Greek for change.
Saliva The watery fluid of the mouth. Its enzymes begin the breaking down of starch.
Swallow To send food from the mouth down the throat.

Healthy Eating 19

Balanced Said of a meal that brings together foods from several food groups.
Breakfast The first meal of the day, eaten after the night's sleep.
Cafeteria A lunchroom where people carry their trays along a counter.
Cook To make food ready to eat by heating it.
Dinner The main meal of the day, eaten at midday or in the evening.
Fresh Newly picked or made; not canned, frozen or dried.
Garden A plot of ground where vegetables, fruits or flowers are grown.
Harvest The bringing in of crops when they are ripe.
Helping One share of food put on a plate.
Leftovers Food kept from one meal to be eaten at another.
Lunch The midday meal.
Mealtime A usual hour for eating, such as noon.
Menu The list of dishes that a cafeteria or a restaurant offers.
Nourish To give a living thing the food it needs to live and grow.
Rainbow An arc of many colors. A plate of fruits and vegetables of many colors is said to look like one.
Recipe The written amounts and steps for making a dish.
Seasonal Said of a fruit or vegetable that is ripe at this time of year.
Taste The sense that tells sweet from sour, salty and bitter.
Variety A number of different kinds of a thing, such as foods.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Word meanings were checked on 8 October 2026 against the words' entries in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nutrient and the entries for the other words; Serving size and Daily value, which have none, against Wikipedia's Nutrition facts label). Facts in the clues were checked the same day against English Wikipedia: Nutrient, Vitamin, Mineral (nutrient), Calorie, Food energy, Body water and the articles on each sugar, vitamin and mineral named; Dietary fiber, Essential amino acid, Cholesterol, Lipid, Electrolyte, Whole grain, Legume and Staple food; Nutrition facts label, Enriched flour, Food fortification, Food additive and the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act; Digestion, Metabolism, Enzyme, Saliva, Small intestine, Glycogen and Bile; and MyPlate (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MyPlate), which gives the five food group names the USDA's plate picture used from 2011 until January 2026. The list defines words, ranks no food above another, and is not medical or diet advice. Licence: own work

How it works

This nutrition word search hides the vocabulary of a nutrition unit: the nutrients by name, the vitamins and minerals, the food groups and the terms on a food label. The foods themselves are in the food word search.

Read the full guide

Six lists for a nutrition unit

Under Start from a list, Nutrients runs from Protein and Fiber to Glucose and Amino acid. Vitamins and Minerals has Calcium, Iron, Folate and Riboflavin. Food Groups has Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein and Dairy, with Whole grain, Pulses and Seafood. Food Labels has Calorie, Serving size and Daily value, and From Food to Fuel has Digestion, Enzyme and Glycogen.

A checked fact in the clues

Open More options and tick Show clues, not words: each word turns into its meaning. Fat becomes the food substance with the most energy for its weight, about 9 Calories in a gram. Calcium becomes a mineral that is 99 percent in the bones and teeth.

Short and Easy keeps to 12 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Fat, Iron, Nuts and Menu.
Carbohydrate, at 12 letters, is the longest single word. Serving size is hidden as SERVINGSIZE.

Questions and answers

Is this also a healthy eating word search?

Yes. Pick Healthy Eating under Start from a list for 19 meal and table words, such as Breakfast, Balanced, Variety and Harvest, and the sheet takes that title. As a healthy eating word search printable it defines words and gives no diet advice.

Is there a free printable nutrition word search with an answer key?

Yes. Press Print or save as PDF: page one is the puzzle with a name and date line, page two is its answer key, on Letter or A4. This nutrition word search printable needs no sign-up, and every new grid gets its own key.

Which nutrients are in the nutrition word search puzzle?

Carbohydrate, Fat, Protein and Water, the nutrients needed in large amounts, and Vitamin and Mineral, needed in small amounts, with Fiber, Starch and four sugars. Source: Wikipedia, Nutrient, read 8 October 2026.

Which food groups does it use?

Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein and Dairy, the five groups of the USDA's MyPlate picture, published from 2011 until January 2026. The list ranks no food above another. Source: Wikipedia, MyPlate, read 8 October 2026.

All 105 words

Nutrients 19

Nutrients, continued

Vitamins and Minerals 19

Food Groups 18

Food Labels 15

From Food to Fuel 15

Healthy Eating 19

How it works

Six lists for a nutrition unit

A checked fact in the clues

Questions and answers

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