Pasta Word Search

A pasta puzzle of shapes, sauces and kitchen words that prints with its answer key.

Name Date

Pasta Word Search

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

0 of 15 words found

EOWFRDNMERNRRNP

XHDOVPPAILFYAOS

SZROBESCQCLNIOT

CHCWFNAAWOABGDE

PASTANURFUSILLI

EJVORECOGHASIEI

DDAGFOENNEGYOOS

EMVGALXIOENTTSP

XEKTLZNOCNAEJEA

VCTWLNBJCTRWLQG

EWDTEWSWHLZWGTH

BOWTIEALINGUINE

DNLRIGATONIEIFT

PEMFRAVIOLIOTUT

YRRNCTORTELLINI

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.

PastaPASTA
NoodleNOODLE
SauceSAUCE
SpaghettiSPAGHETTI
PennePENNE
LasagnaLASAGNA
RavioliRAVIOLI
MacaroniMACARONI
FusilliFUSILLI
LinguineLINGUINE
RigatoniRIGATONI
TortelliniTORTELLINI
GnocchiGNOCCHI
FarfalleFARFALLE
Bow tieBOW TIE

15 of 20 words from the Pasta list.

Explain three words from the list to someone who has never eaten pasta.

Start from a list

Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

Large print Lower-case letters Name and date line on paper

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Pasta Word Search

EOWFRDNMERNRRNP

XHDOVPPAILFYAOS

SZROBESCQCLNIOT

CHCWFNAAWOABGDE

PASTANURFUSILLI

EJVORECOGHASIEI

DDAGFOENNEGYOOS

EMVGALXIOENTTSP

XEKTLZNOCNAEJEA

VCTWLNBJCTRWLQG

EWDTEWSWHLZWGTH

BOWTIEALINGUINE

DNLRIGATONIEIFT

PEMFRAVIOLIOTUT

YRRNCTORTELLINI

PASTA, NOODLE, SAUCE, SPAGHETTI, PENNE, LASAGNA, RAVIOLI, MACARONI, FUSILLI, LINGUINE, RIGATONI, TORTELLINI, GNOCCHI, FARFALLE, BOW TIE

Next step Print the kitchen safety word search Make a word search from your own menu words

All 127 words

Long Strands and Ribbons 14

Angel hair The English name for capellini, the extremely thin long strands.
Bigoli Thick strands with a rough texture, from the Veneto region.
Bucatini Long hollow strands; buco is the Italian for a hole.
Capellini Extremely thin strands; the Italian name means little hairs.
Fedelini A very thin kind of spaghetti.
Fettuccine Narrow flat strips whose Italian name means little ribbons.
Linguine Long, flat, thin strands, named for little tongues.
Pappardelle Broad flat strips; pappare, the root of the name, means to gobble down.
Perciatelli Long, hollow, thick strands; the Italian verb behind the name means to pierce.
Pici Thick hand-rolled strands from Tuscany.
Spaghetti Long strands; the name is the Italian for little cords.
Tagliatelle Flat strips, often a little narrower than fettuccine; the name comes from tagliare, to cut.
Tagliolini Egg ribbons like tagliatelle, only thinner.
Vermicelli Long and very thin; the Italian name means little worms.

Show all 127 words (113 more)

Short Shapes and Tubes 20

Campanelle Bell shapes with a frilly edge; the name means bellflower.
Casarecce Short lengths in an S shape; the name means homemade.
Cavatappi Macaroni twisted like a corkscrew, which is what the Italian name means.
Cavatelli Small pieces like shells; the name comes from cavare, to hollow out.
Conchiglie Pieces shaped like seashells, usually with grooves.
Farfalle Pieces pinched like bow ties; farfalla is the Italian for butterfly.
Fusilli Spirals or corkscrews; the name comes from fuso, the Italian for a spindle.
Gemelli A strand twisted into a loose spiral, named with the Italian word for twins.
Lumache Pieces shaped like snail shells; the Italian name means snails.
Macaroni Hollow shapes, most often short curved tubes.
Mostaccioli Short tubes with slanted ends.
Orecchiette Small domed discs; the name means little ears.
Paccheri Large tubes from Naples, often stuffed.
Penne Short tubes cut on a slant at both ends; the name means feathers or quill pens.
Radiatori Short pieces shaped like a room heater, first made between the two World Wars.
Rigatoni Large ribbed tubes; the name comes from rigare, to draw a line.
Rotelle Pieces shaped like little wagon wheels.
Rotini Corkscrew shapes much like fusilli.
Trofie Short, thin twists from Liguria.
Ziti Medium tubes, often ridged, once served at wedding feasts in southern Italy.

Tiny Shapes for Soup 10

Acini di pepe Bits the size of beads; the name means peppercorns.
Alphabet Tiny shapes pressed into the letters A to Z.
Anelli Small thin rings, used mostly in soups and salads.
Broth The clear liquid of a soup, where tiny shapes are cooked.
Ditalini Tiny short tubes; the name means little thimbles.
Fregola Toasted beads from Sardinia that look like couscous.
Orzo Pieces shaped like grains of rice, often used in soups; the Italian name means barley.
Pastina Tiny pieces, often cooked in soups or fed to babies.
Risoni Rice-shaped pieces much like orzo.
Stelline Tiny stars for soup.

Filled, Layered and Dumplings 11

Agnolotti Thin sheets folded over a stuffing and cut into half circles or squares.
Cannelloni Big tubes, stuffed then baked; canna, the root of the name, is a reed.
Cappelletti Stuffed squares folded into little hats, as the Italian name says.
Filling What goes inside ravioli: cheese, meat or vegetables.
Gnocchi Small dumplings of flour, semolina or potatoes.
Lasagna Very wide flat strips, or the dish that bakes them with sauce and cheese between.
Layers What a baked lasagna is built in, one sheet over another.
Manicotti Large stuffed tubes; the name comes from manica, a sleeve.
Ravioli Small cases of dough sealed around chopped meat or cheese.
Tortellini Small stuffed rings, served in soup or with a sauce.
Tortelloni A larger form of tortellini.

What the Names Mean 30

Barley The grain that orzo is named for.
Bellflower What campanelle means: a plant with blooms shaped like bells.
Bow tie An English nickname for farfalle, after the neckwear the shape looks like.
Bride Ziti comes from zita, an Italian word for this person at a wedding.
Charcoal Carbonara comes from carbone, the Italian for this black fuel.
Corkscrew What cavatappi means: a twisting tool for opening bottles.
Ears Orecchiette are named for little ones of these.
Elbow The bent joint that gives short curved macaroni its English name.
Gobble To eat fast; pappardelle comes from pappare, which means this.
Hats Cappelletti means little ones of these.
Homemade What casarecce means.
Knuckle Gnocchi is a cousin of nocca, the Italian for this finger joint.
Peppercorns What acini di pepe means: the dried berries ground in a mill.
Pounded Crushed with heavy blows; pesto comes from an Italian word that means this.
Quills Feathers once cut into pens; penne are named for them.
Reed Cannelloni comes from canna, the Italian for this tall hollow grass.
Ribbon Fettuccine takes its name from the Italian for this narrow strip of cloth.
Rings What anelli means.
Sailor Marinara means in the style of this seagoing worker.
Sleeve Manicotti comes from manica, the Italian for this part of a shirt.
Snails What lumache means.
Spindle A rod for twisting thread; fuso, the word inside fusilli, means this.
Stars Stelline are tiny ones of these.
Thimble A cap that guards a sewing finger; ditalini are named for little ones.
Tongues Linguine means little ones of these.
Tooth Al dente means to this: the bite should meet something firm.
Twine Thin string; spago, the word inside spaghetti, means this.
Twins What gemelli means.
Wheels Rotelle means little ones of these; a wagon rolls on four.
Worms Vermicelli means little ones of these.

Sauces and Toppings 16

Basil The leafy herb in pesto.
Bolognese A sauce of meat and tomatoes named for the city of Bologna.
Carbonara A sauce of eggs, bacon or ham, grated cheese and seasonings.
Garlic A strong-smelling bulb that splits into cloves.
Marinara A sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic and herbs; the name means in sailor style.
Meatball A small ball of ground meat, seasoned and cooked.
Mozzarella A mild white cheese with a springy texture, often eaten melted.
Olive oil A cooking fat squeezed from a small Mediterranean fruit.
Parmesan A hard, sharp, dry Italian cheese, usually served grated.
Pecorino An Italian cheese made from sheep's milk.
Pesto A sauce of basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and grated cheese.
Pine nuts Small edible seeds from evergreen cones, one of the five parts of pesto.
Pomodoro A red sauce; the word is the Italian for tomato.
Ricotta A soft cheese made from whey, often used as a filling.
Sauce A flavorful liquid served over food or beside it.
Tomato The red fruit that marinara is made from.

From Dough to Plate 26

Al dente Cooked enough to be firm but not soft.
Boil To cook in bubbling hot water.
Colander A bowl pierced with holes, set in the sink to catch cooked noodles.
Dough Flour mixed with water until it can be kneaded and rolled.
Drain To pour off the cooking water.
Dried Sold hard in a box, ready to keep on a shelf.
Durum A hard-grained wheat used chiefly for making pasta.
Extrude To push dough through a shaped opening.
Flour Wheat or another grain milled to a fine powder.
Fork The utensil for winding up long strands.
Fresh Soft and newly made.
Grate To shred hard cheese on a rough metal surface.
Italy The country most of these shape names come from.
Knead To press and fold dough with the hands.
Noodle A narrow strip of dough, usually made of flour, eggs and water.
Pasta Dough of flour and water, sometimes with eggs, that is shaped and then boiled.
Ridges Raised lines along a tube such as rigatoni.
Semolina The coarse particles milled from durum wheat.
Spiral A coil shape, as in fusilli or rotini.
Starch A carbohydrate stored in wheat, rice, corn and potatoes.
Strand One long thin piece, as of spaghetti.
Tongs A hinged tool for lifting long strands out of the pot.
Toss To mix lightly, as noodles with sauce.
Tube A hollow shape such as penne or ziti.
Twirl To spin strands around a fork.
Wheat The cereal grain that semolina is milled from.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Spellings, meanings and the origins of the names were checked on 16 October 2026 in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (https://www.ahdictionary.com/) and, for the shape names it does not list, in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/conchiglie and the entries for the other words). The shapes and the English translations of their names were checked the same day against the English Wikipedia articles List of pasta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pasta) and Pasta (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasta). Licence: own work

How it works

Spaghetti, Penne, Lasagna, Ravioli, Macaroni and Fusilli are on the opening list of this pasta word search, beside Noodle and Sauce. Many clues say what the Italian name means: linguine are little tongues, vermicelli little worms.

Read the full guide

Seven lists, from spaghetti to sauce

Long Strands and Ribbons has Bucatini, Tagliatelle and Angel hair. Short Shapes and Tubes has Rigatoni, Farfalle and Orecchiette. Tiny Shapes for Soup has Orzo, Ditalini and Stelline. Filled, Layered and Dumplings has Tortellini, Cannelloni and Gnocchi. Sauces and Toppings has Marinara, Pesto and Parmesan, and From Dough to Plate has Semolina, Colander and Al dente.

What the names mean

What the Names Mean hides the English behind the Italian: Ears for orecchiette, Twins for gemelli, Snails for lumache, Barley for orzo, Thimble for ditalini. Penne are named for quill pens, and al dente is Italian for to the tooth.

Lasagna is spelled the American way here; lasagne, with an e, is the same word.
For a unit on Italy, hand out What the Names Mean and have pupils sketch the shape behind each word.

Questions and answers

Is the pasta word search free to print?

Yes. The print is two pages on Letter or A4: the puzzle, with a name and date line and three words to explain in writing, then the answer key.

What words are in the pasta word search?

127 words and phrases, from Ziti and Orzo to Acini di pepe and Mostaccioli. Long and Tricky gathers every entry of nine letters or more.

Is there an easy pasta printable word search for kids?

Short and Easy has 12 words of 4 or 5 letters, such as Pasta, Penne, Ziti, Sauce and Fork.

Which list makes a printable word search for pasta shapes only?

Short Shapes and Tubes has 20 shapes and Long Strands and Ribbons has 14, with no sauce or kitchen word among them.

How many pasta shapes are there?

Wikipedia's article on pasta counts 310 specific forms, known by more than 1,300 names, and notes that in Italy a shape's name often changes from one place to the next.

All 127 words

Long Strands and Ribbons 14

Short Shapes and Tubes 20

Tiny Shapes for Soup 10

Filled, Layered and Dumplings 11

What the Names Mean 30

Sauces and Toppings 16

From Dough to Plate 26

How it works

Seven lists, from spaghetti to sauce

What the names mean

Questions and answers

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