Respiratory System Crossword Puzzle Printable

Print a criss-cross respiratory system crossword that clues each part by its job, from Nose to Alveoli, with a key.

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Respiratory System 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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Word bank

  • Breastbone
  • Exercise
  • Hum
  • Laugh
  • Moist
  • Mucus
  • Nose
  • Nostril
  • Rib cage
  • Slippery
  • Speech
  • Spongy

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Answer key: Respiratory System Crossword

1MOISTU2N3SP4EECHOXUS5BREASTBO6NEROCSI7ST8SLIPPERYEOIN9LAUG10H11RIBCAGEUYM

Across 1 MOIST · 3 SPEECH · 5 BREASTBONE · 8 SLIPPERY · 9 LAUGH · 11 RIBCAGE

Down 1 MUCUS · 2 NOSE · 4 EXERCISE · 6 NOSTRIL · 7 SPONGY · 10 HUM

Next step Print the human body word searchFind respiratory system words in a word search

All 133 clues

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Nose to Bronchioles 26

  • Adam's apple Bump at the front of the neck made by cartilage around the organ of sound
  • Bronchi The two large tubes that branch off toward the left and right lungs
  • Bronchiole Narrow branch of the airway whose wall has muscle but no stiff rings
  • Bronchus One of the two main branches of the airway, left or right
  • Carina Ridge at the fork where the main airway splits in two
  • Cilia Tiny moving hairs that sweep trapped specks up and out of the airways
  • Dust Fine dry specks in the air, which the airway's sticky fluid traps
  • Epiglottis Flap that covers the airway during swallowing so that food stays out
  • Filter To strain specks out of incoming air, as hairs and sticky fluid do
  • Goblet Drinking cup that gives its name to the units of the airway wall that make its sticky fluid
  • Larynx Organ in the neck that holds the vocal cords and makes sound
  • Lower "___ respiratory tract": the airways from the neck down into the lungs
  • Mucus Sticky fluid that traps specks and germs in the airways
  • Nose Where air usually enters, to be warmed, moistened and cleaned on the way in
  • Nostril One of the two openings that let air into the nasal cavity
  • Pharynx Passage behind the nasal cavity, shared by air on its way down and by food
  • Septum Wall of bone and cartilage that divides the nasal cavity in two
  • Sinus Air-filled space in the bones of the face that opens into the nasal cavity
  • Smell Sense that works as air passes high inside the nasal cavity
  • Throat Everyday word for the passage that both food and air go down
  • Trachea Tube held open by rings of cartilage that carries air down toward the lungs
  • Tree "Respiratory ___": name for the airways, which branch again and again
  • Upper "___ respiratory tract": the airways of the head and neck
  • Vocal folds Pair of bands in the neck that buzz as air passes, also called cords
  • Voice box Common name for the organ in the neck that makes sound
  • Windpipe Everyday name for the main tube that carries air down toward the lungs

Lungs and Chest 28

  • Alveoli Tiny air sacs at the ends of the smallest airways, where gases are swapped
  • Alveolus A single one of the tiny air pockets of the lungs, wrapped in a net of capillaries
  • Apex Rounded top of the lungs, which reaches up into the base of the neck
  • Breastbone Everyday name for the flat bone at the front of the chest
  • Cone Rough shape of each of the lungs: wide below and narrow above
  • Diaphragm Muscle that pulls downward to draw air in and then rises as it lets go
  • Elastic Stretchy, like the lungs, which spring back after each breath in
  • Fissure Crease that separates one part of the lungs from the next
  • Hilum Place on the inner side of the lungs where the airway and blood vessels enter
  • Intercostal "___ muscles": they lie between the ribs and move them
  • Lobe The right side of the lungs has three of these parts; the left has two
  • Lung Either of the two big air-filled organs in the chest
  • Mediastinum Middle region of the chest, between the two lungs, where the heart sits
  • Notch "Cardiac ___": the dent in the left of the two lungs that makes room for the heart
  • Pleura Two-layered sheet that wraps the lungs and lines the chest
  • Protect What the bony basket of the chest does for the soft organs inside
  • Pulmonary Word that means "of the lungs"
  • Rib cage Framework of curved bones around the chest
  • Root Bundle of airway and blood vessels that joins the lungs to the middle of the chest
  • Sac Tiny pocket of air; the lungs have millions
  • Segment Smaller unit of the lungs that is served by its own airway branch
  • Slippery Like the wet layers around the lungs, which slide as the chest moves
  • Spine Backbone, to which the ribs are joined behind
  • Spongy Soft and full of tiny holes, as the lungs are
  • Sternum Bone at the front of the chest that is shaped roughly like a necktie
  • Surfactant Coating made in the lungs that keeps the tiny air sacs from collapsing
  • Thorax Scientific name for the chest
  • Twin One of two that match; the lungs are almost a pair of these

How Breathing Works 28

  • Abdomen Belly; it moves out as the main breathing muscle pushes down
  • Accessory "___ muscles": extra ones in the neck and chest that help during hard breathing
  • Airflow Stream of moving air
  • Automatic Done with no thinking, like breathing during sleep
  • Brainstem Lowest part of the brain, which sets the pace of breathing with no thinking needed
  • Contract What the main breathing muscle does to pull air in: tighten and flatten
  • Cycle One breath in and one breath out make one
  • Exercise Activity that makes breathing faster and deeper
  • Exhale To let air out
  • Expand To grow bigger, as the chest does when it fills with air
  • Expiration Scientific word for breathing out
  • Inhale To draw air in
  • Inspiration Scientific word for breathing in
  • Medulla Part at the base of the brain, just above the spinal cord, that drives breathing
  • Minute Sixty seconds, the time over which breaths are counted
  • Passive Needing no muscle effort, like breathing out at rest
  • Phrenic "___ nerve": it carries the brain's message to the main breathing muscle
  • Pressure It drops inside the chest as the space there grows, so air flows in
  • Rate Number of breaths taken in a set time
  • Recoil The way stretched lungs snap back, like a rubber band, and push air out
  • Relax What the breathing muscles do as you breathe out quietly
  • Residual "___ volume": the air left in the lungs after breathing out all you can
  • Rhythm Steady pattern of breaths that the brain keeps going
  • Shallow Word for breathing that moves little air
  • Spirometer Instrument that measures how much air the lungs move
  • Tidal "___ volume": the air that moves in or out in one quiet breath
  • Ventilation The moving of fresh air in and stale air out
  • Vital "___ capacity": the most air a person can breathe out after the deepest breath in

Gas Exchange and Blood 28

  • Altitude Height above sea level; the higher you climb, the less of every gas a breath holds
  • Artery Vessel that leads away from the heart; one branches to carry blood to the lungs
  • Atmosphere Layer of gases around Earth, the source of every breath
  • Bicarbonate Dissolved form that most of the gas to be breathed out takes in the blood
  • Bloodstream Blood on the move; it picks up a load in the lungs and delivers it everywhere
  • Capillary Smallest blood vessel; a net of them wraps every air pocket of the lungs
  • Carbon dioxide Gas made by cells as they work and breathed out
  • Cell Tiny living unit of the body; every one needs a steady supply of the gas breathed in
  • Circulation Round trip of blood from the heart, out to the body and back
  • Diffusion Spreading of a gas from where it is crowded to where it is not
  • Dissolve What a gas must do in the wet lining before it can cross into the blood
  • Energy Cells release it from food, using the gas brought by the blood
  • Exchange "Gas ___": the swap of one gas for another across the walls of the air sacs
  • Glucose Blood sugar: what cells feed on
  • Hemoglobin Protein packed into certain blood cells that carries the gas cells need
  • Iron Metal held in the blood protein that carries the breathed-in gas
  • Membrane Very fine sheet of living material; gases cross one between air and blood
  • Mitochondria Powerhouses inside cells, where the breathed-in gas is finally used
  • Moist Slightly wet, like the lining of the air sacs
  • Nitrogen Gas that fills nearly four fifths of every breath and comes back out unused
  • Oxygen Gas that makes up about a fifth of air; cells cannot work without it
  • Plasma Watery part of blood, in which most of the gas to be breathed out rides to the lungs
  • Pump To push a liquid along, as the heart does with blood
  • Respiration "Cellular ___": the chemical process in cells that uses the gas breathed in
  • Surface "___ area": the air sacs give the lungs a very large one for gases to cross
  • Vapor Water in the form of a gas; breathed-out air is full of it
  • Vein Vessel that leads back to the heart; four of them return blood from the lungs
  • Waste Unwanted leftover; breathing removes one that is a gas

Voice, Coughs and Other Sounds 23

  • Blow To push air out through the lips, as at a candle
  • Cough Sudden blast of air that clears the airways
  • Gasp Sudden sharp breath in, from surprise or effort
  • Hiccup Sudden twitch of the main breathing muscle, ending in a sharp sound
  • Hum To make a tune with the mouth shut
  • Laugh Series of quick breaths out with sound, made when something is funny
  • Pant To breathe in short, quick breaths, as after a sprint
  • Pitch Highness or lowness of a sound; stretched vocal cords raise it
  • Puff Short, quick blast of breath
  • Reflex Fast action the body performs by itself, with no thinking needed
  • Shout To speak very loudly, with a big push of air
  • Sigh Long, loud breath out that shows relief or tiredness
  • Sing To make music with the voice, which takes steady control of the breath
  • Sneeze Explosive burst of air that clears the nasal passages
  • Sniff Short, sharp breath in to catch a scent
  • Snore Rough, rattling sound of breathing during sleep
  • Snort Rough sound of air forced through the nasal passages
  • Speech Talking; it shapes breathed-out air with the tongue and lips
  • Swallow Action during which the airway briefly closes
  • Whisper Talking with breath alone, without the vocal cords buzzing
  • Whistle Sound made by blowing air through pursed lips
  • Winded Out of breath after hard effort
  • Yawn Wide-mouthed gulp of air that comes with sleepiness

How this list was compiled: Clues written for this site for a body systems unit, each part clued by the job it does. Facts were checked in the English Wikipedia articles on the respiratory system, the lung, breathing and each part named (en.wikipedia.org, CC BY-SA 4.0), and every answer in Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org), in October 2026. No illness or treatment is listed. A vocabulary sheet for class, not medical advice. Licence: own work

How it works

This respiratory system crossword puzzle, printable with a word bank, is a vocabulary crossword for a body systems unit. The Epiglottis is clued as the flap that keeps food out of the airway, the Diaphragm as the muscle that draws air in.

Read the full guide

Five sets, from the nose to the blood

Nose to Bronchioles follows a breath down: Nostril, Septum, Vocal folds, Carina. Lungs and Chest has Lobe, Hilum and Sternum. How Breathing Works has Inhale, Rhythm and Spirometer. Gas Exchange and Blood has Oxygen, Capillary and Hemoglobin. Voice, Coughs and Other Sounds has Sneeze, Hiccup and Whisper. Easy Breathing Words, the set the page opens on, has Lung, Cough and Yawn.

Anatomy only

Clues describe healthy parts and how they work. No illness, medicine or treatment is an answer, and nothing here is health advice.

  • Hand out How Breathing Works after a lung model lesson: Contract, Expand, Pressure and Recoil name what the class just watched.

Questions and answers

What grade is the respiratory system crossword for?

Easy Breathing Words suits grades 3 to 5, with answers such as Nose, Lung, Sigh and Pump. The five themed sets use unit vocabulary for grades 5 to 8, such as Bronchiole and Surfactant. These bands are our judgment, not a published standard.

Which parts of the respiratory system are in the puzzle?

The whole path of a breath: Nose, Pharynx, Larynx, Trachea, Bronchi, Bronchiole and Alveoli, then the Diaphragm and the Pleura around the lungs. Where a part has two names both are answers, such as Windpipe and Voice box.

Is there an answer key for the respiratory system crossword?

Yes. The filled-in grid and the answers by number print last, on a separate sheet, so one copy can stay with the teacher.

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