Root Word Search

Word search puzzles of words that share a root, with the root and its meaning in every clue.

Name Date

Root Word Search

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

0 of 16 words found

RINSPECTTBLDBPW

MWVBMNNRXDPNEHF

YTSPECTATORRPOV

EDICTIONARYPRTS

IMNOOYGSURTREOL

BRTNDTMPTEFNDGP

UUESFIEOOSSHIRA

UDRTPDBRGPEBCAR

RURRFROTREECTPA

DTUUROXSACRYTHG

CFPCSURUPTURERR

EQTTHONLHPPEKOA

SCHUROBTNRTWDDP

FWRRJINSTRUCTSH

WLSEDWORJEXPORT

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.

TransportTRANSPORT
ConstructCONSTRUCT
AutographAUTOGRAPH
EruptERUPT
InspectINSPECT
PredictPREDICT
DictionaryDICTIONARY
StructureSTRUCTURE
ParagraphPARAGRAPH
InterruptINTERRUPT
SpectatorSPECTATOR
ExportEXPORT
InstructINSTRUCT
PhotographPHOTOGRAPH
RuptureRUPTURE
RespectRESPECT

16 of 24 words from Root Word Starter List.

Underline the root in each word you found. Write what the root means.

Start from a list

Easy: words go across and down.

More options

Show clues, not words

Word list

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

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Root Word Search

RINSPECTTBLDBPW

MWVBMNNRXDPNEHF

YTSPECTATORRPOV

EDICTIONARYPRTS

IMNOOYGSURTREOL

BRTNDTMPTEFNDGP

UUESFIEOOSSHIRA

UDRTPDBRGPEBCAR

RURRFROTREECTPA

DTUUROXSACRYTHG

CFPCSURUPTURERR

EQTTHONLHPPEKOA

SCHUROBTNRTWDDP

FWRRJINSTRUCTSH

WLSEDWORJEXPORT

TRANSPORT, CONSTRUCT, AUTOGRAPH, ERUPT, INSPECT, PREDICT, DICTIONARY, STRUCTURE, PARAGRAPH, INTERRUPT, SPECTATOR, EXPORT, INSTRUCT, PHOTOGRAPH, RUPTURE, RESPECT

Next step Make a word search from the roots in your own unit Match roots to meanings on a root words worksheet

All 120 words

Port Words: To Carry 14

Comport Port, to carry: to behave in a certain way.
Deport Port, to carry: to expel a person from a country.
Export Port, to carry: to send goods to another country to be sold.
Import Port, to carry: to bring goods in from another country.
Portable Port, to carry: easy to carry or move about.
Portage Port, to carry: carrying a boat overland between two waterways.
Porter Port, to carry: a person hired to carry luggage.
Portfolio Port, to carry: a flat case for carrying loose papers or drawings.
Purport Port, to carry: to claim to be something, often falsely.
Rapport Port, to carry: a bond of trust between people.
Report Port, to carry: a spoken or written account of an event.
Support Port, to carry: to hold up the weight of something.
Teleport Port, to carry: to move matter by turning it into energy here and re-making it there, in theory.
Transport Port, to carry: to move people or goods from one place to another.

Show all 120 words (106 more)

Struct Words: To Build 11

Construct Struct, to build: to make by putting parts together.
Construe Struct, to build: to understand or explain the meaning of something.
Destroy Struct, to build: to ruin completely.
Destruction Struct, to build: the act of wrecking a thing completely.
Destructive Struct, to build: causing great damage.
Indestructible Struct, to build: impossible to break or ruin.
Instruct Struct, to build: to teach, or to give orders.
Instrument Struct, to build: a tool for careful work, or a thing played to make music.
Obstruct Struct, to build: to block a path or get in the way.
Structural Struct, to build: having to do with the way a thing is put together.
Structure Struct, to build: something made of parts joined together, such as a bridge.

Graph Words: To Write 16

Autograph Graph, to write: a person's own signature.
Biography Graph, to write: the story of a person's life, told by someone else.
Calligraphy Graph, to write: the art of decorative handwriting.
Cartography Graph, to write: the making of maps.
Digraph Graph, to write: a pair of letters that stands for one sound, such as sh.
Epigraph Graph, to write: a quotation set at the start of a book or chapter.
Geography Graph, to write: the study of the earth's surface and its features.
Graphic Graph, to write: shown in pictures or in writing.
Graphite Graph, to write: the soft black carbon in a pencil.
Homograph Graph, to write: a word spelled like another that differs in meaning.
Paragraph Graph, to write: a group of sentences on one idea, begun on a new line.
Photograph Graph, to write: a picture made with a camera.
Pictograph Graph, to write: a picture that stands for a word or an idea.
Seismograph Graph, to write: an instrument that records earthquakes.
Telegraph Graph, to write: a system that sends messages over wires as electric signals.
Typography Graph, to write: the arrangement and look of printed type.

Rupt Words: To Break 8

Abrupt Rupt, to break: sudden and not expected.
Bankrupt Rupt, to break: judged by law to be unable to pay one's debts.
Corrupt Rupt, to break: dishonest, open to bribes.
Disrupt Rupt, to break: to throw into disorder.
Erupt Rupt, to break: to burst out, as lava does from a volcano.
Interrupt Rupt, to break: to break in while someone is speaking or working.
Irrupt Rupt, to break: to burst in suddenly.
Rupture Rupt, to break: a break or burst, as in a pipe.

Spect Words: To Look 15

Aspect Spect, to look: one way in which a thing can be viewed.
Circumspect Spect, to look: mindful of what may follow before acting; prudent.
Expect Spect, to look: to look forward to something as likely to happen.
Inspect Spect, to look: to look over carefully.
Introspection Spect, to look: the study of one's own thoughts and feelings.
Perspective Spect, to look: a point of view.
Prospect Spect, to look: something expected; a possibility.
Respect Spect, to look: a feeling of high regard for someone.
Retrospect Spect, to look: a review of things in the past.
Spectacle Spect, to look: a grand public show.
Spectacular Spect, to look: impressive to see, like a grand show.
Spectator Spect, to look: a person who watches an event.
Specter Spect, to look: a ghost.
Spectrum Spect, to look: the band of colors made when light passes through a prism.
Suspect Spect, to look: to think someone guilty without proof.

Dict Words: To Say 12

Benediction Dict, to say: a blessing.
Contradict Dict, to say: to state the opposite of what someone has said.
Dictate Dict, to say: to speak words aloud for someone else to write down.
Dictator Dict, to say: a ruler with total power.
Dictionary Dict, to say: a book that lists words and tells what they mean.
Dictum Dict, to say: a formal statement made with authority.
Ditto Dict, to say: the same as was stated before.
Interdict Dict, to say: to forbid by an official order.
Jurisdiction Dict, to say: the right of a court to hear a case.
Predict Dict, to say: to tell what will happen before it does.
Valedictorian Dict, to say: the top student of a class, who gives the farewell speech.
Verdict Dict, to say: the decision of a jury.

Vis and Vid Words: To See 15

Advise Vis, to see: to recommend what someone should do.
Evidence Vid, to see: things that help a person reach a conclusion.
Evident Vid, to see: plain and easy to notice.
Improvise Vis, to see: to make up on the spot, with no plan.
Provide Vid, to see: to supply what is needed.
Revise Vis, to see: to look at again and change or correct.
Supervise Vis, to see: to be in charge of workers or their work.
Video Vid, to see: moving pictures recorded for a screen.
Visa Vis, to see: a mark in a passport that lets a traveler enter a country.
Visible Vis, to see: able to be seen.
Vision Vis, to see: the sense of sight.
Visit Vis, to see: to go to see a person or a place.
Visor Vis, to see: the brim of a cap, which shades the eyes.
Vista Vis, to see: a distant view, as through an opening.
Visual Vis, to see: having to do with sight.

Mit and Miss Words: To Send 13

Admit Mit, to send: to let in.
Commit Mit, to send: to pledge oneself to a course of action.
Dismiss Miss, to send: to allow or tell to leave.
Emissary Miss, to send: an agent sent on a mission to speak for another.
Emit Mit, to send: to give off light, heat or sound.
Missile Miss, to send: an object thrown or fired at a target.
Mission Miss, to send: a special task a person or group is sent to do.
Missive Miss, to send: a written message.
Omit Mit, to send: to leave out.
Permit Mit, to send: to allow.
Promise Miss, to send: a statement that one will surely do something.
Submit Mit, to send: to hand in for someone to judge.
Transmit Mit, to send: to send from one person or place to another.

Vert and Vers Words: To Turn 16

Advertise Vert, to turn: to call public attention to a thing for sale.
Anniversary Vers, to turn: the yearly return of the date of a past event.
Avert Vert, to turn: to look away, or to keep a thing from happening.
Convert Vert, to turn: to change from one form or use to another.
Divert Vert, to turn: to steer aside from a course.
Extrovert Vert, to turn: a person whose interest is directed outward, toward others.
Introvert Vert, to turn: a person whose interest is directed inward, to their own thoughts.
Invert Vert, to turn: to flip upside down or inside out.
Reverse Vers, to turn: to move backward or the opposite way.
Revert Vert, to turn: to go back to an earlier state or habit.
Universe Vers, to turn: all of space and everything in it.
Version Vers, to turn: one form of a thing, or one person's account of an event.
Versus Vers, to turn: against.
Vertex Vert, to turn: the highest point, or the corner point of an angle.
Vertical Vert, to turn: straight up and down.
Vertigo Vert, to turn: a feeling of dizziness.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word lists and every clue were written for this page. The meaning of each word, and its descent from the Latin or Greek root it is listed under, were read on 2026-10-16 in the entries and etymologies of The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, https://www.ahdictionary.com/. What a root is was checked on 2026-10-16 in the article Root (linguistics) in English Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/. Licence: own work

How it works

This root word search opens on 16 words from six roots: port, struct, graph, rupt, spect and dict. Structure, Paragraph, Inspect and Respect are among them. Nine root lists hold 120 words.

Read the full guide

One list for each root

Under Start from a list, Port Words: To Carry has Transport and Portfolio. Struct Words: To Build has Construct and Instrument. Graph Words: To Write has Autograph and Calligraphy. Rupt Words: To Break has Erupt and Bankrupt. Spect Words: To Look has Spectator and Perspective. Dict Words: To Say has Predict and Verdict.

Three more roots

Vis and Vid Words: To See has Vision, Evidence and Visa. Mit and Miss Words: To Send has Transmit and Promise. Vert and Vers Words: To Turn has Reverse, Universe and Anniversary.

A root list has 16 words or fewer, so its puzzle hides the whole family: all 8 rupt words, all 11 struct words.
Under More options, tick Show clues, not words. A clue reads "Rupt, to break: to burst out, as lava does from a volcano."
Short Root Words has 33 words of 4 to 6 letters, such as Emit, Visor and Export.

Questions and answers

What is a root word?

The part of a word that carries its main meaning and cannot be broken into smaller meaningful parts. Prefixes and suffixes are added to it: trans and port, to carry, make transport.

What does the root port mean?

To carry, from Latin portare. Export is to carry out and import is to carry in. Not every port is this root: passport is built on port, a harbor, from Latin portus.

Can a root word stand alone?

Some can and some cannot. Run is the root of running and is a word by itself. Rupt is found only inside words such as interrupt, disrupt and rupture.

All 120 words

Port Words: To Carry 14

Struct Words: To Build 11

Graph Words: To Write 16

Rupt Words: To Break 8

Spect Words: To Look 15

Dict Words: To Say 12

Vis and Vid Words: To See 15

Mit and Miss Words: To Send 13

Vert and Vers Words: To Turn 16

How it works

One list for each root

Three more roots

Questions and answers

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