Free Printable Reptile Crossword Puzzles

Print a criss-cross reptile crossword of lizards, snakes, turtles and crocodiles, each puzzle with its answer key.

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Reptile Crossword

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Answer key: Reptile Crossword

1C2VENOM3SCA4LESBIRZ5I6GUANA7CAERR8COLDBLOODEDKCO9PYTHOND10N11TORTOISELS12DESERT

Across 2 VENOM · 3 SCALES · 5 IGUANA · 8 COLDBLOODED · 9 PYTHON · 11 TORTOISE · 12 DESERT

Down 1 COBRA · 4 LIZARD · 6 GECKO · 7 CROCODILE · 10 NEST

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All 141 clues

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Lizards 21

  • Agama African reptile; the dominant male of the common kind has a blue body and a yellow tail
  • Anole Reptile of the warm Americas; the male fans out a bright flap of skin at its throat
  • Basilisk Tropical American sprinter that can run across the top of a pond
  • Bearded dragon Pet from Australia named for the dark, puffed-up skin under its chin
  • Chameleon Color changer whose eyes can look two ways at once
  • Chuckwalla When scared it jams itself into a crack in the rocks and blows up like a balloon
  • Frilled dragon Reptile of northern Australia that spreads a wide ruff at its neck to scare off enemies
  • Gecko Night hunter that chirps and clicks; with no way to blink, it licks its eyes clean
  • Gila monster Venomous reptile of the American Southwest, named for a river basin
  • Goanna What Australians call their big, long-necked reptiles of the genus Varanus
  • Iguana Its marine kind dives to eat seaweed; its green kind lives in trees
  • Komodo dragon Giant of Indonesia that can reach 3 meters and hunt deer
  • Lizard Scaly sunbather; many kinds can drop the tail to get away
  • Monitor Any of the large, long-necked reptiles of the genus Varanus
  • Perentie The largest living member of the genus Varanus in Australia
  • Skink Reptile with small legs and no clear neck; a few kinds have no legs at all
  • Slow worm It looks like a snake, but it can blink and it has no legs
  • Tegu Reptile of South America; the Argentine black and white kind is the largest
  • Thorny devil Australian ant eater covered entirely with cone-shaped spines
  • Tokay Blue-gray Asian reptile with orange spots, named for the sound the male makes
  • Whiptail American reptile of a genus in which some kinds are all female

Snakes 23

  • Adder Snake of Europe with a venomous bite and a large place in British folklore
  • Anaconda Giant olive-green water snake with black blotches, found east of the Andes
  • Boa Snake of the South American tropics, often bred in captivity, with saddle-like marks
  • Boomslang Tree dweller of Africa whose name means tree snake in Afrikaans
  • Bullsnake Large snake of the Great Plains, one of the longest in North America
  • Bushmaster Longest venomous snake in the Americas
  • Cobra Snake of the snake charmers; the king kind is the longest venomous snake
  • Copperhead Heavy-bodied snake of the eastern United States with markings shaped like hourglasses
  • Coral snake Venomous, with Old World and New World kinds; harmless look-alikes copy it
  • Corn snake Orange or brown with big red blotches, found in the southeastern United States
  • Cottonmouth Water moccasin: it gapes to show the white inside of its mouth
  • Garter snake Slender and most often striped lengthwise, native to North and Central America
  • Hognose Snake with an upturned nose that rolls over and plays dead
  • Kingsnake Its royal name comes from its habit of eating other snakes
  • Krait Venomous snake of Asia that hunts other snakes at night
  • Mamba African snake with green kinds in the trees and a black kind mostly on the ground
  • Milk snake Banded reptile once wrongly believed to drink from cows in barns
  • Python One kind, the reticulated, is the longest snake on Earth
  • Racer Fast-moving snake of North America; one kind is the northern black
  • Rattlesnake Its tail buzzes a warning before it strikes
  • Sidewinder Its J-shaped tracks run across the dunes at an angle
  • Taipan Its inland kind, of Australia, is widely called the most venomous snake in the world
  • Viper Family of snakes whose long front teeth fold back when not in use

Turtles and Tortoises 22

  • Aldabra Atoll of the Seychelles, home of a giant land turtle
  • Beak A turtle has no teeth; it bites with this
  • Box turtle It can shut itself in completely, thanks to a hinge on its underside
  • Carapace The domed upper half of the bony case of a turtle
  • Chelonian A scientist might use this word for any turtle
  • Flatback Sea turtle found only on the beaches and in the shallow waters around Australia
  • Flipper A sea turtle rows through the ocean with a pair of these
  • Galápagos Islands named with a Spanish word for the giant land turtles that live there
  • Hawksbill Sea turtle with a narrow, pointed, birdlike mouth
  • Leatherback Largest of all turtles; its back is rubbery skin, not hard plates
  • Loggerhead Sea turtle named for its very large head
  • Matamata South American river turtle whose flat head looks like fallen leaves
  • Plastron The flat underside of the bony case of a turtle
  • Ridley Kemp's ___, the smallest sea turtle
  • Scute One of the horny plates that cover the back of a turtle
  • Shell Bony house of a turtle, joined to its ribs and spine
  • Slider Red-eared ___: pond turtle now among the 100 worst invaders in the world
  • Snapping turtle Large freshwater reptile with powerful jaws and a short temper
  • Softshell Turtle with a leathery, bendable back and a snorkel-like nose
  • Stinkpot Small musk turtle named for the smell it gives off
  • Terrapin Small turtle of fresh or slightly salty water
  • Tortoise Slow-moving land turtle with a life that can pass 100 years

Crocodiles and Alligators 16

  • Alligator Dark, broad-nosed giant of the marshes of the American South
  • Armor What the bony plates in the skin of a croc serve as
  • Bellow Deep roar that a gator makes to claim its territory and call a mate
  • Caiman The spectacled kind has a bony ridge between its eyes, like the bridge of glasses
  • Crocodile Its fourth lower tooth still shows when its mouth is shut
  • Crocodilian Any member of the order Crocodilia
  • Everglades Florida wetland park where gators and crocs both live
  • Gastrolith Stone that a croc swallows and keeps in its stomach
  • Gharial Fish eater of the Indian subcontinent with a very long, narrow nose
  • Mugger Wide-nosed croc of marshes and lakes, at home from Iran to India
  • Nile African river that names the largest hunter of the continent
  • Osteoderm Bony plate buried in the skin of the back of a croc
  • Saltwater Kind of water in the name of the largest living reptile
  • Snout Narrow on a fish-eating croc, wide and round on a gator
  • Swamp Soggy forest of cypress knees and still, dark water
  • Yangtze River that lends its name to the gator of China, one of only two gator kinds alive

Reptile Bodies 21

  • Backbone Spine, in everyday words
  • Belly A snake pulls itself along on this, its underside
  • Brille Clear cap that covers and protects the eye of a snake
  • Casque Helmet-like bump on the head of some reptiles
  • Claw Sharp tip of a toe, used for digging and climbing
  • Crest Ridge of spines along the head or back
  • Dewlap Throat fan of skin that some reptiles can extend and pull back
  • Eyelid A snake has none that moves, so it never blinks
  • Fangs Long, sharp teeth; in some snakes they are hollow
  • Frill Wide ruff of skin around the neck
  • Hood Wide, flat neck flap that some Asian and African snakes spread in warning
  • Keratin Tough material in the outer skin of a reptile, and in your fingernails
  • Lungs A sea turtle surfaces to fill these with air
  • Pit Heat-sensing hollow between the eye and the nostril of some snakes
  • Rattle Noisy tail tip made of hollow, interlocking rings
  • Scales A snake is covered in these; the ones underneath are large and oblong
  • Setae Tiny bristles on the toe pads of a wall-climbing reptile
  • Third eye Nickname of a light-sensing spot on top of the head of some reptiles
  • Tongue A snake flicks this forked organ in and out to smell the air
  • Venom What makes a bite dangerous: a toxin made in a gland behind the eye
  • Vertebrae The many small bones that make up a spine

How Reptiles Live 38

  • Ambush To lie still and strike when a meal comes close
  • Arboreal Word for a climber that spends its life on branches
  • Bask To lie in the sun to warm up
  • Brumation Cold-weather dormancy of a reptile, its answer to hibernation
  • Burrow A snug hole in the earth where an animal hides from the heat
  • Camouflage Bark-brown skin on a tree trunk or sand-colored skin on a dune is this
  • Carnivore No snake eats plants, so every snake is this
  • Clutch One batch of buried eggs
  • Coil What a rope and a resting snake both form: a stack of loops
  • Cold-blooded Warmed by the sun and the air, not from the inside
  • Constrictor A snake that subdues what it catches by wrapping loops around it
  • Desert Hot, dry, sandy land where many reptiles live
  • Ectotherm Animal that gets its body heat from outside itself
  • Egg tooth Sharp bump that a hatching baby uses to cut its way out
  • Endangered At risk of dying out; a U.S. law with this word in its name protects the sea turtles of U.S. waters
  • Habitat Where an animal belongs: its river, its dunes or its treetops
  • Hatchling A reptile fresh out of the egg
  • Herbivore Leaves, flowers and fruit make up the whole menu of this kind of eater
  • Herpetology Branch of zoology whose name comes from a Greek word for a creeping animal
  • Hiss Long "s" sound made by pushing air out fast
  • Incubate What warm sand or a rotting leaf pile does for buried eggs
  • Migrate To travel a long way to feed or breed; sea turtles cross oceans to do it
  • Mimic A harmless animal that copies the look of a dangerous one
  • Molt Another word for casting off an old outer layer
  • Nest Hole dug in sand or a mound of plants where eggs are laid
  • Nocturnal Out hunting by moonlight, hidden away by day
  • Oviparous Egg-laying, as most reptiles are
  • Predator A hunter; to a mouse, a snake is one
  • Prey To a snake, a mouse is this
  • Regrow To make a replacement, as for a tail that was dropped
  • Shed To slip out of an old, tight skin
  • Slither To glide along the ground with no legs
  • Species Scientists list about 12,000 of these among the living reptiles
  • Squamate Member of the largest reptile order, the scaly one that holds every snake
  • Temperature How hot the sand is; for sea turtles it decides whether eggs become males or females
  • Terrarium Glass tank set up as a home for a pet reptile
  • Tuatara It lives only in New Zealand; its name is Maori for peaks on the back
  • Vertebrate A reptile is one and a beetle is not: an animal built around a spine

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site about lizards, snakes, turtles, crocodilians, reptile bodies and how reptiles live. Each fact was checked in October 2026 against the English Wikipedia article on the animal (CC BY-SA 4.0), and the sea turtle and Everglades facts against NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. National Park Service. Frogs and other amphibians are not reptiles and are left out. No clue is advice on handling or keeping an animal. Licence: own work

How it works

These free printable reptile crossword puzzles are vocabulary grids for an animal unit. Twelve easy answers fill the first one, Scales, Cold-blooded, Lizard, Tortoise and Gecko among them, on one sheet of Letter or A4.

Read the full guide

Six sets after the easy one

Lizards has Chameleon, Skink and Komodo dragon. Snakes has Viper, Boomslang and Sidewinder. Turtles and Tortoises has Carapace, Leatherback and Terrapin. Crocodiles and Alligators has Gharial, Caiman and Snout. Reptile Bodies has Keratin, Dewlap and Brille. How Reptiles Live has Brumation, Clutch and Herpetology.

Clues that go round the answers

Lizard, Tortoise and Scales are answers, so other clues say reptile, land turtle and scaly. Gator and croc stand in clues because Alligator and Crocodile are answers: an Osteoderm is a bony plate buried in the skin of the back of a croc.

  • Print Reptile Bodies before a labeling lesson, and How Reptiles Live when the class compares warm-blooded animals with cold-blooded ones.

Questions and answers

Are the reptile crossword puzzles free to print?

Yes, with no sign-up. Print as many copies as you have students; the answer key follows on a separate sheet.

What grade are the reptile crosswords for?

Easy Reptile Words suits grades 2 to 4, with answers such as Shell, Hiss and Burrow. The six themed sets, with answers such as Plastron and Ectotherm, suit grades 4 to 8. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

What are the four groups of reptiles?

Reptiles are traditionally sorted into four orders: turtles, crocodilians, squamates (the lizards and snakes) and the order of the tuatara of New Zealand, its only living member.

Is a frog a reptile?

No. A frog is an amphibian. Reptiles and amphibians are studied together, in herpetology, but frogs are left out of these puzzles.

What does cold-blooded mean?

A cold-blooded animal, or ectotherm, makes too little heat inside its body to control its temperature, so it relies on heat from outside. That is why a lizard lies in the sun.

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