PE Crossword Puzzles

Print a criss-cross PE crossword of movement, fitness, exercise, equipment and fair play words, with its answer key.

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PE Crossword

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

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Answer key: PE Crossword

1WA2RMUP3CE4HOOP5WLN6R7HEARTR8ATEEIYGFS9DRIBBLE10TAGLRLIEE11STRETCHEKYIP

Across 1 WARMUP · 4 HOOP · 7 HEARTRATE · 9 DRIBBLE · 10 TAG · 11 STRETCH

Down 2 RELAY · 3 CONE · 5 WHISTLE · 6 REFEREE · 8 AGILITY · 11 SKIP

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All 174 clues

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Ways to Move 37

  • Backpedal Run in reverse without turning around
  • Bend Fold forward to touch your toes
  • Bounce A dropped basketball does it
  • Catch Snag a fly ball in your glove
  • Chase Run after someone who is trying to get away
  • Climb Go up a rock wall or a knotted cord
  • Crawl Baby's way of getting across the floor
  • Dodge Move aside quickly so that a thrown ball misses you
  • Dribble Walk along while patting a basketball down with one hand
  • Flee Escape from whoever is It
  • Freeze Turn into a statue when the music stops
  • Hop Little jump made with one leg off the floor
  • Jog Gentle, unhurried run
  • Kick Boot a soccer ball
  • Leap Big spring through the air, as over a puddle
  • March Walk in step with a steady beat, as a band does
  • Overhand Thrown with the hand coming over the shoulder
  • Pass Send the ball to another player on your side
  • Pivot Spin on the ball of one foot that stays put
  • Punt Boot a football dropped from the hands before it lands
  • Roll Tip sideways and go over and over down a grassy slope
  • Rotate Move one spot around the floor so everyone plays each position
  • Serve Opening hit in volleyball
  • Shuffle Drag your feet as you go
  • Skip Travel with light, springy steps on alternate feet
  • Slide Move smoothly along a surface, as a runner does into a base
  • Sprint Flat-out burst, as in a 50-yard dash
  • Stride The reach of one running step
  • Swing Go to and fro like a pendulum, as on the rings
  • Throw Hurl something through the air
  • Tiptoe Creep along with your heels off the floor
  • Toss Send something through the air lightly and gently
  • Tumble Do rolls and flips across the floor, as a gymnast does
  • Twist Wind the upper body around like a corkscrew
  • Underhand Softball pitching style, the arm swinging low
  • Volley Strike a ball while it is still in flight
  • Zigzag Line that goes left, right, left, like a lightning bolt

Fitness Words 38

  • Abs Short word for the belly muscles
  • Aerobic Kind of steady exercise that uses plenty of oxygen
  • Agility Knack of changing direction quickly without losing control
  • Balance Staying steady on one foot or on a beam
  • Biceps Two-headed muscle that curls the forearm up
  • Calf Back of the lower leg
  • Cardio Short word for exercise that works the heart
  • Circuit Loop of exercise stations visited one after another
  • Cooldown Slow, easy movement at the very end of gym class
  • Coordination Getting many body parts to move as one, as in juggling
  • Core Middle of the body: the muscles around the belly and lower back
  • Deltoid Shoulder muscle used to raise the arm out to the side
  • Endurance What a marathon tests
  • Fitness What regular exercise builds
  • Flexibility How far a knee, hip or shoulder can move through its range
  • Hamstring Muscle group at the back of the thigh
  • Heart rate Number of beats in one minute, counted at the wrist or the neck
  • Interval Burst of hard work followed by a short easy spell, again and again
  • Joint Knee, elbow or hip, for example
  • Lap One trip around the running oval
  • Pace How fast you choose to go on a long run
  • Posture How you carry your back and shoulders
  • Practice What makes perfect, in the saying
  • Pulse Throb you can feel in your wrist after a hard run
  • Quadriceps Four-part muscle on the front of the thigh
  • Reaction ___ time: how long you take to move after the word Go
  • Recovery Easy time that lets the body return to normal after hard work
  • Rep One complete time through a movement, for short
  • Rhythm Steady beat you keep while skipping or dancing
  • Set Group of repetitions done without stopping
  • Skill Dribbling is one; so is serving
  • Stamina Lasting energy for a long game
  • Strength Muscle power
  • Stretch Slow reach that loosens tight muscles
  • Sweat Your skin makes it when a game heats you up
  • Triceps Arm muscle whose name means three-headed
  • Warm-up Gentle first minutes of gym class
  • Workout A full round of exercise, start to finish

Exercises 25

  • Bridge Arch the body up from the floor on hands and feet
  • Burpee Drop to the floor, send the feet back, bring them in and spring up
  • Calisthenics Exercises that use only the weight of your own body
  • Cartwheel Sideways wheel of the body, named for a wagon part
  • Crunch Small rise of the shoulders off the floor that works the belly
  • Curl Bring a weight up toward the shoulder by folding the elbow
  • Dance Step and sway to a beat
  • Flip Full spin in mid-air, feet over head and back down
  • Gymnastics Sport of tumbling, vaulting and balancing
  • Handstand Upside-down stunt with arms straight and feet in the air
  • Jumping jack Arms go up as the feet go wide, then all snap back together
  • Lift Raise a weight off the floor
  • Lunge Long step forward with the back knee sinking toward the floor
  • Plank Stay as stiff as a board, propped on forearms
  • Pose Body shape that you hold still
  • Pull-up Grab a high bar and haul yourself up until your chin is over it
  • Push-up Floor exercise done face down on hands and toes
  • Shuttle run Dash back and forth between two lines
  • Sit-up Belly exercise that starts flat on your back
  • Somersault Chin down, then turn heels over head
  • Splits Sitting with the legs in one straight line, one each way
  • Squat Lower the hips with knees folding, as if sitting on a low chair
  • Straddle Sit or stand with the legs spread wide apart
  • Vault Spring over a padded horse with a push of the hands
  • Yoga Exercise from India built on held poses and calm breathing

Gym and Equipment 34

  • Barbell Long bar with weight plates on both ends
  • Bars Parallel ___: two rails that a gymnast swings between
  • Baton What must not be dropped at the handoff
  • Beanbag Squashy little sack flung in a cornhole game
  • Bench Seat for players waiting to go in
  • Birdie Nickname for the feathered thing hit in badminton
  • Bleachers Stepped rows of plain seats for people watching
  • Cone Pointed marker shaped like the holder of an ice cream scoop
  • Court Marked floor for basketball or volleyball
  • Disc Flying ___: toy that glides when spun and flung
  • Dumbbell Short bar with a weight at each end, lifted in one hand
  • Field Grassy outdoor space marked for soccer
  • Flag Strip pulled from a belt in a no-tackle kind of football
  • Goal Frame with a mesh back that a soccer ball is shot into
  • Hoop Ring that you keep circling with a wiggle of the hips
  • Hurdle Light frame that a runner clears without stopping
  • Jump rope Length of cord with two handles, swung under the feet
  • Kettlebell Iron ball with a handle on top
  • Mat Soft pad for tumbling
  • Medicine ball Heavy stuffed sphere thrown and caught for exercise
  • Net Mesh stretched across the middle of a volleyball game
  • Paddle Small flat board with a handle, for table tennis
  • Pedometer Small gadget that counts your steps
  • Pinnie Colorful bib pulled over a shirt to sort players into sides
  • Racket Stringed frame with a handle, for badminton or tennis
  • Scoreboard It lights up with the numbers for both teams
  • Sneakers Lace-up footwear for gym class
  • Springboard Bouncy board that launches a gymnast or a diver
  • Stopwatch Hand timer with start, stop and reset
  • Target Rings around a bullseye
  • Tee Post that props up a ball for a beginner to hit
  • Track Ring of lanes for runners
  • Trampoline Bouncy bed for flips and seat drops
  • Whistle It goes tweet to end the game

Games and Fair Play 40

  • Boundary Step over this line and you are out
  • Captain Leader of a side
  • Capture the flag Outdoor game: sneak across, grab a rival side's banner and run it home
  • Cheer 'Go, team, go!' is one
  • Coach Grown-up who teaches the plays and picks who starts
  • Cooperation Working together to get something done
  • Defense Guarding duty, when the other side has the ball
  • Dodgeball Game of throwing soft balls at the other side and ducking theirs
  • Drill Short activity repeated again and again in training
  • Effort Giving it everything you have
  • Foul Tripping or pushing, for example
  • Four square Playground game for a quartet, each in a box, with one bouncing ball
  • Handshake Friendly clasp offered to the other side after the game
  • Hopscotch Chalk squares you cross on one foot after tossing a marker
  • Huddle Heads-together meeting before the next play
  • Kickball Schoolyard version of baseball with no bat or glove
  • Leapfrog Game named for an amphibian's jump
  • Obstacle Thing in the way on a course, such as a wall or a tunnel
  • Offense The attacking side
  • Opponent The one you are trying to beat
  • Partner Your other half in a three-legged race
  • Recess School break when playground games happen
  • Referee Official who starts play, stops it and settles arguments
  • Relay Race that a team runs one leg at a time
  • Respect Listening while others speak shows it
  • Score 3 to 2, for example
  • Scrimmage Pretend match between two halves of one side
  • Sideline Long edge of the playing area
  • Signal Raised hand that means stop and listen, for one
  • Sportsmanship Shaking hands after a loss shows it
  • Squad Small group that a class is split into
  • Station One stop in the gym with its own task, before the class rotates
  • Strategy A side's game plan
  • Substitute Fresh legs sent in partway through
  • Tag Game that starts with 'You're It!'
  • Teammate One of the others wearing your color
  • Tie 2 to 2 when time runs out
  • Timeout Pause that a side calls to rest and regroup
  • Tournament Contest with rounds, brackets and a final
  • Tug of war Two sides pull on a long rope until one crosses the mark

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for physical education classes in grades 3 to 8, in five sets: ways to move, fitness words, exercises, the gym and its equipment, and games and fair play. Word meanings were checked in Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org) and facts in English Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0) in October 2026. No clue is health advice, no team or athlete is named, and no clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

These PE crossword puzzles are vocabulary crosswords for a rainy-day lesson or a day with a substitute. The first puzzle has 12 gym class words, among them Warm-up, Relay, Dribble, Stretch and Heart rate.

Read the full guide

Five sets after the gym class words

Ways to Move has Pivot, Volley and Backpedal. Fitness Words has Endurance, Cardio and Hamstring. Exercises has Burpee, Lunge and Plank. Gym and Equipment has Pinnie, Hurdle and Kettlebell. Games and Fair Play has Scrimmage, Offense and Sportsmanship.

Movement words, not sports trivia

The clues are about how a body moves and how a class plays together. The sports themselves are on the sports crossword.

  • A student who is sitting out can work Fitness Words on a bench and still meet the vocabulary of the unit.

Questions and answers

Are these physical education crossword puzzles free to print?

Yes, and there is no sign-up. Each print ends with the answer key on a sheet of its own, so the puzzle goes to the class and the key stays with you. The sheets fit Letter or A4.

What grade is the phys ed crossword puzzle for?

Gym Class Words suits grades 3 to 5, with answers such as Tag, Hoop and Skip. Fitness Words and Exercises suit grades 5 to 8. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

Which fitness words are in the PE crossword puzzle?

Strength, Endurance, Flexibility, Agility, Balance and Coordination are answers in Fitness Words, beside Heart rate, Pulse, Warm-up and Cooldown, and muscle names such as Biceps and Hamstring.

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