Physical and Chemical Changes Word Search Free Printable

The changes of matter on one sheet with its key: physical changes, chemical changes, the signs and the properties.

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Physical and Chemical Changes Word Search

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0 of 16 words found

LBUBBLESUIHNATE

SUDDGPROPERTYFG

QGJJDRBROSIBTOO

OCOOKINGANCUEDR

ROTTINGXTRORNOF

OREVERSIBLENERZ

PHYSICALPRIIRET

WLEUDZRUSTINGBV

HAGBQYDSVTHGYOL

ECQSIJXETAROYIY

ARITLEOYNDVOWLD

TGMADOFSSBOMIIB

GNLNOSREACTIONS

NOACHEMICALITGN

VIGEVIDENCEABNE

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.

BoilingBOILING
BurningBURNING
RustingRUSTING
RottingROTTING
CookingCOOKING
ReactionREACTION
BubblesBUBBLES
OdorODOR
HeatHEAT
EvidenceEVIDENCE
EnergyENERGY
PropertyPROPERTY
PhysicalPHYSICAL
ChemicalCHEMICAL
SubstanceSUBSTANCE
ReversibleREVERSIBLE

16 of 24 words from the Physical and Chemical Changes Key Terms list.

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Answer key: Physical and Chemical Changes Word Search

LBUBBLESUIHNATE

SUDDGPROPERTYFG

QGJJDRBROSIBTOO

OCOOKINGANCUEDR

ROTTINGXTRORNOF

OREVERSIBLENERZ

PHYSICALPRIIRET

WLEUDZRUSTINGBV

HAGBQYDSVTHGYOL

ECQSIJXETAROYIY

ARITLEOYNDVOWLD

TGMADOFSSBOMIIB

GNLNOSREACTIONS

NOACHEMICALITGN

VIGEVIDENCEABNE

BOILING, BURNING, RUSTING, ROTTING, COOKING, REACTION, BUBBLES, ODOR, HEAT, EVIDENCE, ENERGY, PROPERTY, PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, SUBSTANCE, REVERSIBLE

Next step Print the changes of state in full Find the types of chemical reaction

All 118 words

Physical Changes 38

Alloying Mixing different metals, as copper and zinc are mixed to make brass.
Bending Forcing into a curve.
Boiling Turning quickly from liquid to gas when a liquid is heated enough.
Breaking Coming apart into pieces.
Carve To shape by cutting material away.
Chopping Cutting into pieces with quick blows of a blade.
Condensing Turning from gas back to liquid.
Crumpling Squashing a sheet into creases and wrinkles.
Crushing Pressing into small pieces, which alters size and shape only.
Crystallizing Forming a solid with a regular pattern of atoms or molecules.
Cutting Dividing with a blade. The pieces are the same material as before.
Denting Pressing a hollow into a surface.
Dissolving Mixing into a liquid to make a solution, as salt does in water.
Distilling Separating the liquids of a mixture by boiling one of them off.
Evaporating Turning from liquid to gas at the surface, the way salt water leaves its salt behind.
Filtering Catching the solid bits of a mixture in a material that lets only the fluid through.
Folding Doubling a sheet over on itself.
Forge To shape metal by heating and hammering it.
Freezing Turning from liquid to solid as the temperature drops.

Show all 118 words (99 more)

Physical Changes, continued

Grinding Wearing down into powder or grit.
Hammering Striking metal to shape it, which alters its crystals and its hardness.
Knead To work and press dough into one well mixed mass, usually by hand.
Magnetizing Making a material such as iron magnetic, which can be undone.
Melting Turning from solid to liquid, as an ice cube does when it warms.
Mixing Stirring things together. Sand in water is still sand and water.
Rolling Pressing metal flat or thin, which alters the size and shape of its crystals.
Shattering Breaking suddenly into many pieces, as glass does.
Shredding Tearing or cutting into thin strips.
Sieving Separating the parts of a mixture by size with a mesh.
Sift To pass through a sieve.
Slice To cut into thin, broad pieces.
Snap To break apart suddenly.
Sorting Separating a mixture into groups, such as pennies from nickels.
Stir To move the parts of a liquid about by passing a spoon through it.
Stretching Pulling something longer.
Tearing Ripping apart. Paper that has had this done to it is still paper.
Tempering Heating and hammering steel to set its hardness, as for a knife blade.
Thawing Warming from frozen back to liquid.

Chemical Changes 27

Acid A substance that reacts with a base in neutralizing.
Baking Cooking in the dry heat of an oven.
Burning Reacting with oxygen at high temperature. A candle doing so makes carbon dioxide and water.
Candle A wick in wax. When one burns, new substances form from the wax.
Caramelizing Heating sugar until it turns brown and takes on a buttery flavor.
Charring The incomplete burning of a solid under high heat, leaving black carbon.
Composting Breaking down plant and food waste into a mixture that feeds the soil.
Cooking Using heat to make food tastier, safer or easier to digest.
Corroding The gradual wearing away of a metal as it reacts with its surroundings.
Curdling The separating of milk into soft lumps, done on purpose to make cheese.
Decay Rot: the slow breaking down of once-living matter, mostly by microbes.
Digesting Breaking food down into small parts that can be absorbed.
Exploding Expanding very rapidly with a sudden outward release of energy.
Fermenting Breaking down sugars without oxygen, as living cells can do.
Fry To cook in hot fat.
Grill To cook over an open fire or other direct heat.
Neutralizing The reacting of an acid with a base.
Oxidizing Losing electrons in a reaction, as iron does when it rusts.
Reaction A process that turns one set of substances into another.
Ripening The process that makes fruit sweeter, softer and less green.
Roast To cook in an oven or over a fire without a cover.
Rotting The breaking down of dead plant or animal matter into simpler substances.
Rusting Iron reacting with oxygen, where water or damp air is present, to form a reddish-brown oxide.
Souring Altering food with an acid such as vinegar or lemon juice.
Spoiling Becoming unfit to eat through the action of bacteria and fungi.
Tarnishing The forming of a thin, dull film on a metal such as copper or silver.
Toasting Turning sliced bread brown with heat, by a reaction that alters its flavor.

Signs of a Chemical Change 23

Ash The solid that remains after something burns.
Bubbles Balls of gas forming in a liquid that is not boiling.
Color change An unexpected one, not just a blend of the starting shades, points to a new substance.
Energy The ability to do work. Every chemical reaction comes with a change in it.
Evidence Observations that point to a chemical change, since molecules cannot be seen.
Fizz To give off a rapid stream of bubbles with a hissing sound.
Flame The glowing gas that is the part of a fire you can see.
Foam A mass of gas bubbles held in a liquid or a solid.
Gas A state of matter with no fixed shape. A new one given off is a sign of change.
Heat Energy that some reactions give off and that others need.
Indicator A sign. No single one proves a chemical change, as each can also be physical.
Irreversible Not able to be undone. Many chemical changes are.
Light It can be given off by a reaction, as it is by a flame.
Observation Something noticed with the senses or measured with a tool.
Odor A scent, caused by compounds that have escaped into the air.
Precipitate A solid that forms when two clear liquids are mixed.
Residue What is left behind, such as the ash of a fire.
Rust A reddish-brown oxide of iron: a new substance with new properties.
Smell What the nose picks up. A different one after a change is a sign of a new substance.
Smoke Fine particles and gases given off when a material burns.
Soot Impure carbon particles left by incomplete burning.
Taste A different one is a sign of change in food. Nothing in a lab is ever tested this way.
Temperature How hot or cold something is. It may rise or fall during a reaction.

Physical and Chemical Properties 30

Acidity A chemical property, listed together with its opposite, basicity.
Bond A link between atoms. A chemical change breaks or forms them; a physical one does not.
Brittleness The tendency to fracture under stress with little bending first.
Change What happens when matter becomes different in form or in kind.
Chemical Describes a change that makes one or more new substances.
Color A physical property that the eye can see.
Composition What a substance is made of. Only a chemical change alters it.
Conductivity How well a material carries heat or electric current.
Density How much mass is packed into each unit of volume.
Ductility The ability to be stretched a long way under tension before breaking.
Elasticity The ability to return to the original size and shape after a force is removed.
Flammability A chemical property: the ability to burn.
Form The shape or state of a thing. A physical change alters this and nothing more.
Hardness Resistance to being dented or scratched.
Identity What a substance is. A physical change leaves it the same.
Luster The way light interacts with a surface; shine.
Matter Anything that has mass and takes up space.
Measurable Able to be given a number. Every physical property is.
Opacity How little light passes through a material.
Physical Describes a change of form that leaves the chemical composition as it was.
Property A feature of a substance that can be observed or measured.
Reactivity A chemical property: the tendency of a substance to undergo a reaction.
Reversible Able to be undone. Melting is, because the liquid can be frozen again.
Size How big something is. Cutting alters it; the material stays the same.
Solubility The ability of a substance to dissolve in another.
Stability A chemical property: how well a substance lasts without breaking down.
State The form matter takes: solid, liquid or gas. A switch of it is a physical change.
Strength How much force a material can take.
Substance A form of matter with a constant chemical composition.
Toxicity A chemical property: the degree to which a substance can harm a living thing.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. The facts in the clues were checked on 2026-10-09 against English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), among them the articles on physical change (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_change), the chemical reaction (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_reaction), the physical property (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_property), the chemical property (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_property), rust (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust), combustion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combustion) and conservation of mass (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_mass), and against LibreTexts Introductory Chemistry, section 3.6, Changes in Matter: Physical and Chemical Changes (https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Chemistry/Introductory_Chemistry_(LibreTexts)/03%3A_Matter_and_Energy/3.06%3A_Changes_in_Matter_-_Physical_and_Chemical_Changes), with the meanings of plain verbs checked in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/). Licence: own work

How it works

This physical and chemical changes word search, free and printable, draws 16 of 24 key terms, such as Melting, Freezing, Dissolving, Rusting, Burning, Reaction and Reversible. For equations, catalysts and reaction types, print the chemical reactions word search.

Read the full guide

Physical and chemical changes word puzzles for 8th grade

For an 8th grade class, pick Hard Physical and Chemical Changes under Start from a list: 53 words of eight letters or more, such as Crystallizing, Flammability and Neutralizing. Tick Show clues, not words, and pupils hunt from meanings: Tarnishing prints as "The forming of a thin, dull film on a metal such as copper or silver."

Four lists by theme

Physical Changes has 38 words, from Melting and Dissolving to Tempering and Alloying. Chemical Changes has 27, among them Rusting, Fermenting and Tarnishing. Signs of a Chemical Change has 23, such as Bubbles, Odor and Precipitate. Physical and Chemical Properties has 30, with Luster, Flammability and Reactivity.

Easy Physical and Chemical Changes has 30 words of three to five letters, such as Ash, Rust, Stir and Fry.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between a physical and a chemical change?

A physical change alters the form of a substance and leaves its chemical composition alone: ice melts and is still water. In a chemical change bonds break or form and one or more new substances result, as when iron rusts.

Is dissolving salt in water a physical or chemical change?

Physical. The salt can be recovered by letting the water evaporate, so no new substance has formed.

Are all physical changes reversible?

No. Many are, melting among them, but reversibility is not a certain test: making an alloy is a physical change that physical means cannot easily reverse. Many chemical changes, for their part, are irreversible.

Is burning a candle a physical or chemical change?

Both happen. Wax that melts and runs down the side has changed physically. Wax that burns forms new substances, carbon dioxide and water, and that is a chemical change.

Does the physical and chemical changes word search have an answer key?

Yes. The key prints as a second page on Letter or A4 with every word ringed, and each new puzzle brings its own.

All 118 words

Physical Changes 38

Physical Changes, continued

Chemical Changes 27

Signs of a Chemical Change 23

Physical and Chemical Properties 30

How it works

Physical and chemical changes word puzzles for 8th grade

Four lists by theme

Questions and answers

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