Oceans Crossword Puzzle Printable

Print an under the sea criss-cross crossword of short words such as Eel and Crab, with its answer key.

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Ocean Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

This grid is wider than a phone screen, so it scrolls sideways. It prints whole.

Tap a square, and its clue shows here.

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Word bank

  • Chart
  • Inlet
  • Kayak
  • Seal
  • Stern
  • Wake
  • Whale
  • Wharf

Type in a square and the next one takes over. Tap the same square again, or press Space, to switch between Across and Down. Arrow keys move around the grid, Enter goes to the next clue, and a clue takes you to its squares.

Print gives 2 pages on Letter or A4: the puzzle with its clues, then the answer key. The squares print 10 mm wide. For a PDF, choose Save as PDF in the print window.

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Answer key: Ocean Crossword

1WAKEH2SEALL3I4STERNL5KE6CHARTY7WHARFK

Across 1 WAKE · 2 SEAL · 4 STERN · 6 CHART · 7 WHARF

Down 1 WHALE · 3 INLET · 5 KAYAK

Next step Find ocean animals in a word searchPrint the animal crossword

All 147 clues

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Sea Animals 34

  • Anemone Flower-like animal that stings prey with its ring of soft arms
  • Anglerfish Deep-sea fish with a glowing lure above its jaws
  • Barnacle Small shelled animal that cements itself to rocks and pilings
  • Beluga White far-northern mammal nicknamed the canary of the sea
  • Clownfish Orange fish with white bands, safe among stinging arms that harm other fish
  • Crab Ten-legged scuttler that carries its pincers in front
  • Dolphin Playful toothed mammal that leaps beside boats and clicks to find its food
  • Eel Snake-shaped fish; the moray hides in rocky holes
  • Flounder Flatfish that lies on the bottom with both eyes facing up
  • Krill Tiny swarming animals of polar seas, the main food of the largest filter feeders
  • Lobster Big-clawed bottom walker caught in baited traps off Maine
  • Manta ___ ray: gentle giant that glides on wide triangular fins
  • Mussel Blue-black bivalve that ties itself to rocks with tough threads
  • Narwhal Far-northern mammal whose single spiral tusk is really a tooth
  • Nautilus Living fossil with a coiled, chambered shell
  • Octopus Eight-armed, boneless escape artist with three hearts
  • Orca Black-and-white pack hunter with a tall back fin
  • Oyster Two-shelled animal that can coat a grain of grit to make a pearl
  • Penguin Tuxedoed bird of Antarctic shores that swims with its wings and cannot fly
  • Salmon Silver fish that returns from the sea to the stream of its birth
  • Scallop Fan-shelled swimmer that claps its two halves together
  • Seahorse Upright little fish whose father carries the eggs in a pouch
  • Seal Flippered mammal that hauls out on rocks; its baby is a pup
  • Shark Fish with a bendy, boneless skeleton and rows of replaceable teeth
  • Shrimp Small ten-legged swimmer with a curved body and long feelers
  • Sponge Simple animal full of holes that filters its food and has no brain
  • Squid Ten-limbed jet swimmer that squirts ink
  • Stingray Flat-bodied bottom glider that whips a barbed tail
  • Swordfish Big fish with a long, flat bill like a blade
  • Tuna Fast, streamlined fish that crosses whole oceans; bluefin is one kind
  • Turtle Shelled reptile; the leatherback is the largest kind
  • Urchin Spiny ball that creeps over rocks on tiny tube feet
  • Walrus Tusked, mustached giant of northern ice floes
  • Whale The blue one is the largest animal known to have lived; the humpback sings

Oceans and the Seafloor 23

  • Abyss Dark, near-freezing plain thousands of meters down
  • Arctic Ocean around the North Pole, the smallest of the five, much of it under ice
  • Atlantic Ocean between the Americas on one side and Europe and Africa on the other
  • Basin Great bowl in the planet's crust that holds an ocean
  • Canyon Monterey ___: deep valley cut into the seafloor off California
  • Caribbean Warm tropical sea east of Central America
  • Current River-like flow within the sea that carries warm or cold water around the globe
  • Gulf The Persian one or the one of Alaska
  • Gyre Ocean-wide whirl of slowly circling water
  • Indian Ocean south of Asia, the warmest of the five
  • Island Land with sea on every side; a volcano may build one from the bottom up
  • Lagoon Quiet pool of seawater inside a ring of coral or behind a sandbar
  • Pacific Largest and deepest of the five oceans
  • Reef Great Barrier ___: living structure off Australia that can be seen from space
  • Ridge Mid-ocean ___: undersea mountain chain where new crust forms
  • Sargasso Sea with no coast, named for its floating golden weed
  • Seamount Underwater mountain that does not reach the surface
  • Shelf Continental ___: shallow, gently sloping edge of a continent under water
  • Southern Ocean that circles Antarctica
  • Strait Gibraltar or Bering: a narrow neck of water between two lands
  • Trench Long, narrow, very deep gash in the ocean bottom
  • Twilight ___ zone: dim layer from about 200 to 1,000 meters down
  • Vent Hydrothermal ___: crack in the ocean bottom that gushes hot, mineral-rich water

The Shore 27

  • Beach Strip of sand where towels and umbrellas go
  • Bluff High, steep bank overlooking the water
  • Breaker Wave that curls over and crashes
  • Cliff Steep rock face that the surf slowly undercuts
  • Cove Small sheltered nook of the coast with a narrow mouth
  • Dune Grassy mound of windblown sand above the high-water mark
  • Estuary Brackish meeting place of river and sea, nursery for young fish
  • Foam White froth left by a wave
  • Gull Noisy white-and-gray scavenger of the waterfront
  • Harbor Sheltered water where vessels ride out a storm
  • Inlet Narrow gap where seawater flows in behind a sandy barrier
  • Jetty Long finger of piled rock where anglers stand above the waves
  • Limpet Cone-shelled snail that clamps tight to wave-washed rock
  • Marina Dock area with slips for pleasure craft
  • Marsh Salt ___: grassy wetland flooded by seawater twice a day
  • Pelican Bird with the longest bill pouch on the waterfront, a plunge diver
  • Periwinkle Small sea snail of rocky coasts; also a shade of blue
  • Sand dollar Flat, coin-shaped animal skeleton stamped with a five-petal pattern
  • Sandpiper Small long-billed bird that scurries after each retreating wave
  • Seashell Treasure a collector picks from the wet sand: a whelk, a cockle or a cowrie
  • Seawall Concrete barrier that shields a waterfront town from storm waves
  • Shoal Shallow place that can ground a vessel; also a crowd of fish
  • Shoreline Edge of the land, redrawn by every storm
  • Spray Mist flung up when a wave hits rock
  • Undertow Seaward pull of water under the incoming waves
  • Wharf Platform beside the water where cargo is loaded
  • Whitecap Wind-blown wave with a foamy top

Ships and Sailing 30

  • Anchor Heavy hooked weight dropped to hold a vessel in place
  • Bow Front end of a vessel
  • Captain Skipper; the one who gives the orders at sea
  • Chart A navigator's map of depths, rocks and channels
  • Crew Everyone who works on board
  • Deck Planked walking surface on board; swabbing it is a sailor's chore
  • Fathom Depth unit of a leadsman's line, equal to two yards
  • Freighter Cargo carrier stacked with steel containers
  • Galley Kitchen on board
  • Helm Wheel or lever that steers
  • Hull Watertight outer shell of a boat
  • Kayak Narrow craft moved with a double-bladed paddle
  • Keel Fin-like backbone under a sailboat that keeps it from tipping
  • Knot Speed of one nautical mile per hour
  • Lifeboat Small craft hung at the rail, ready if the order comes to abandon ship
  • Mast Tall pole that carries the canvas
  • Oar A rower pulls one on each side
  • Periscope Tube of mirrors for seeing above the surface from below
  • Port Left side when facing forward, marked by a red light at night
  • Rudder Hinged blade at the back used for steering
  • Sail Triangle of cloth that a breeze fills
  • Sextant Brass instrument that measures the sun's angle to find a position
  • Sonar Ping-and-listen system; its name stands for sound navigation and ranging
  • Starboard Right side when facing forward
  • Stern Back end of a vessel
  • Submarine Sealed vessel that dives, cruises below and surfaces again
  • Trawler Fishing vessel that drags a net
  • Tugboat Small, powerful vessel that pushes big ones into their berths
  • Wake Trail of churned water behind a moving vessel
  • Yacht Sleek pleasure craft for cruising or racing

Ocean Science 33

  • Algae Simple plant-like life, from pond scum to giant kelp
  • Baleen Comb-like plates that strain food from mouthfuls of water
  • Blowhole Nostril on top of a cetacean's head
  • Blubber Fatty coat under the skin of cold-water mammals
  • Brine Very salty water
  • Buoyancy Force that holds up a floating log, equal to the weight of water it pushes aside
  • Camouflage Coloring that lets a flatfish vanish against the sand
  • Cartilage Bendy tissue, not bone, that forms a ray's skeleton
  • Crest The peak of a wave, where a surfer starts the ride
  • Crustacean Hard-shelled, jointed-leg animal such as a crayfish or a prawn
  • Echolocation Finding prey by bouncing clicks off it
  • Flipper Broad, flat limb used for swimming
  • Gills Slits behind a fish's head where it breathes
  • Marine Having to do with the sea
  • Mollusk Member of the soft-bodied group that holds clams, snails and cuttlefish
  • Plankton Drifting life, mostly too small to see, that feeds the sea
  • Pod Family group of toothed sea mammals traveling together
  • Pressure Squeezing force that grows with every meter of depth
  • Salinity Measure of how much salt is dissolved in seawater
  • Saltwater What fills the oceans: about 3.5 percent dissolved minerals
  • School Thousands of herring turning as one
  • Scuba Gear with an air tank for breathing while diving
  • Seaweed Rubbery green, red or brown growth washed up in tangles
  • Sediment Layer of settled mud and grit that slowly blankets a sunken wreck
  • Snorkel Short curved tube for breathing while floating face-down
  • Submersible Small deep-diving craft with thick windows and robot arms
  • Swell Long, smooth wave that has traveled far from the storm that made it
  • Tentacle Long, flexible limb for feeling and grabbing
  • Tide The moon's pull raises it high and lets it fall low, about twice a day
  • Trough Low point between two waves
  • Tsunami Series of huge waves set off by an undersea earthquake
  • Typhoon Name for a hurricane in East Asian waters
  • Upwelling Rise of cold, nutrient-rich water from the depths to the surface

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for elementary and middle school classes: sea animals, the five oceans and the seafloor, the shore, ships and sailing, and ocean science. Every answer is an entry in Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org), and each animal, ocean or science fact was checked against English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0) in October 2026. No clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

This oceans crossword puzzle is a printable vocabulary crossword for an ocean unit: sea animals, the five oceans and the seafloor, the shore, ships and sailing, and ocean science. It opens on short words for younger grades.

Read the full guide

Five sets and a short one

Short Ocean Words keeps answers to 5 letters or fewer: Eel, Crab, Sail, Dune. Sea Animals has Narwhal, Anglerfish and Nautilus. Oceans and the Seafloor has all five oceans, plus Trench, Gyre and Seamount. The Shore has Sandpiper, Undertow and Estuary. Ships and Sailing has Starboard, Fathom and Periscope. Ocean Science has Salinity, Upwelling and Baleen.

Which set for which grade

Short Ocean Words with the word bank suits about grades 2 and 3. Ocean Science and Oceans and the Seafloor suit grades 5 to 8. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

Questions and answers

Is there a free printable under the sea crossword puzzle for 2nd grade?

Yes. The page opens on Short Ocean Words: answers of 5 letters or fewer, such as Seal, Crab and Sail, with a word bank under the clues. Take clues away with their crosses until 6 are left for a smaller grid.

Is this a printable crossword puzzle on oceans for middle school?

Two sets are: Ocean Science and Oceans and the Seafloor hold terms such as Upwelling, Salinity, Seamount and Echolocation. Uncheck Word bank under the clues in More options to make them harder.

Which oceans are in the puzzle?

All five: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern, each an answer in Oceans and the Seafloor. Each clue gives a fact, such as the largest and deepest, or the one that circles Antarctica.

Does the ocean crossword print with answers?

Yes. The answer key comes out after the puzzle, as the last sheet.

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