Thanksgiving Word Search Printable in Large Print, Pie to Proclamation
Press Print or save as PDF for a large print Thanksgiving word search for school or the kids' table.
Name Date
Thanksgiving Word Search
Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.
0 of 16 words found
ECDACFSOESHAREY
ANEPGOTOGETHERT
TKEGQOYLTLSEPBS
KPEDBTURKEYLIJG
SCBNLBNOVEMBERI
YHCRLAWERQRRLHP
JORAELCMFALNPTM
NMAYFLOWERDDITL
FENWTBRRAGFXLIL
OUBSOBNRSLJTGIJ
GZENVWHOTLTMROO
WTRHEDINNERMIWT
OLRGRAVYHPGEMTC
LRYASOFAMILYSAS
BSRLGACDEZJEDRT
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.
TURKEY
GRAVY
CRANBERRY
PIE
CORN
LEFTOVERS
FEAST
DINNER
MAYFLOWER
PILGRIMS
NOVEMBER
SHARE
FAMILY
TOGETHER
HOME
FOOTBALL
16 of 24 words from the Thanksgiving Favorites list.
Tap or click the first letter of a word, then its last letter. Or drag across the word. On a touch screen, hold the first letter for a moment before you drag. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move, Enter marks the first and the last letter, and Escape clears a first letter.
BasteTo spoon pan juices over cooking meat so that it stays moist.
BeansThe green kind is baked in a casserole. The climbing kind was grown up the stalks of maize.
CarveTo slice cooked meat from the bone with a long knife.
CasseroleA dish baked and served in the same deep pan.
CiderJuice pressed from apples, served cold, or warm with a stick of cinnamon.
CinnamonA sweet brown spice made from tree bark and shaken into pie filling.
CornA grain first grown in the Americas. Tisquantum, also called Squanto, showed the Pilgrims how to raise it.
CornbreadA crumbly golden bread baked from ground maize.
CranberryA tart red berry cooked into sauce. Growers flood the beds at picking time so the loose fruit floats.
DinnerThe day's biggest meal. On this holiday many families sit down to it in the middle of the afternoon.
DressingWhat many American cooks call stuffing, above all when it bakes in its own pan.
DrumstickThe lower leg of a roast bird, eaten holding the bone end.
FeastA large, special meal shared by many people. The one at Plymouth in 1621 lasted three days.
Show all 100 words (87 more)
Thanksgiving Dinner, continued
GravyA warm brown sauce made from the pan juices and poured over the meat and the mashed potatoes.
LeftoversFood still there when the meal ends. It feeds the family for days afterwards.
MarshmallowA soft white candy, melted on top of a sweet potato casserole.
OvenWhere the bird cooks for hours. Finding room in it for the pies as well is the cook's puzzle.
PecanThe nut of a hickory tree that grows wild in the southern United States and northern Mexico.
PieDessert baked in a crust. There was none in 1621: Plymouth had no butter, wheat flour or sugar.
PotatoesBoiled and mashed with butter and milk. There were none at the 1621 harvest meal in Plymouth.
PumpkinA winter squash first grown in North America, and one of the oldest farmed plants. It ends the meal as pie.
RoastTo cook with dry heat, uncovered, until the outside browns.
RollsSmall soft breads, passed around the table in a basket.
SandwichThe next-day lunch: cold turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce between two slices of bread.
SquashButternut and acorn are two kinds. With maize and beans it makes up the three sisters.
StuffingBread crumbs, onion, celery and herbs such as sage, baked inside the bird or in a dish of its own.
TurkeyThe big roast bird at the center of the meal. The wild kind is native to North America.
YamsWhat many Americans call orange sweet potatoes. The true kind is a different plant altogether.
Pilgrims and Wampanoag 26
AtlanticThe ocean the Mayflower crossed in the fall of 1620.
CodA sea fish. William Bradford wrote that Plymouth had a good store of it, and of bass, in 1621.
ColonyA settlement that people from another country build and govern. The English founded one at Plymouth.
CongressThe lawmakers of the United States. In 1941 they fixed the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.
EditorSarah Josepha Hale's job at a magazine. Her articles and letters to presidents helped make the holiday national.
EelsLong, snake-shaped fish. Tisquantum taught the newcomers how to catch them.
FowlBirds hunted or raised for food, such as ducks, geese and turkeys. In 1621 four men were sent to hunt some.
HarvestGathering in the ripe crops. The 1621 feast celebrated a good one, so it was held in autumn.
InterpreterSomeone who turns one language into another so two groups can talk. Tisquantum did this for Plymouth.
LincolnThe president who in 1863 named the last Thursday of November a national day of thanks.
MaizeAnother name for corn, and the word used in much of the world.
MassasoitThe Wampanoag leader who came to the 1621 harvest feast with some ninety men.
MayflowerThe ship that left England on September 16, 1620, carrying 102 passengers.
NovemberThe eleventh month. The holiday can fall no earlier than its 22nd day and no later than its 28th.
PardonTo let off. Sparing a live turkey this way became a fixed part of a White House ceremony in 1989.
PilgrimsThe name given to the English settlers of Plymouth. Only about half lived through their first winter.
PlymouthThe Massachusetts town where the Pilgrims settled, and where the three-day harvest feast of 1621 was held.
ProclamationAn official public announcement. George Washington signed one for a day of thanks on October 3, 1789.
SachemThe Wampanoag title for a leader. Massasoit held it.
SistersMaize, beans and squash are called the three of these. Wampanoag women grew them as the main crops.
ThursdayThe day of the week the holiday always falls on: the fourth one in November.
TreatyA written agreement between nations. Massasoit and Plymouth made one of peace in 1621.
VenisonDeer meat. The Wampanoag guests brought five deer to the feast of 1621.
VillageA small community. Before the English came, the Wampanoag lived in 67 of them.
VoyageA long trip by sea. The crossing to Cape Cod in 1620 took about ten weeks.
WampanoagThe Native nation on whose land Plymouth was built. They translate the name as People of the First Light.
Giving Thanks 22
AbundanceMore than enough of something.
AppreciateTo notice the worth of someone or something and be glad of it.
BlessingA good thing in your life that you did not have to earn.
CornucopiaA horn-shaped basket spilling over with fruit and vegetables. The name is Latin for horn of abundance.
CousinsThe children of your aunts and uncles. They tend to fill the kids' table.
DonateTo give food, money or things to people who need them.
FamilyParents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
GenerousHappy to give more than is asked.
GraceA short prayer or word of thanks said before a meal.
GratefulFeeling warmly toward someone for what they did or gave.
GratitudeThe feeling of being thankful. Some classes keep a journal of it through November.
GuestsPeople invited to your house for a meal or a stay.
HomeWhere you live, and where many people travel back to for the holiday.
PantryA cupboard for food. A community one collects cans and boxes for families who need them.
PlentyA full supply. A cornucopia is also called the horn of this.
RelativesMembers of your wider family, such as aunts, uncles and grandparents.
ShareTo let others have some of what you have.
ThankfulGlad about what you have. Many families go around the table so each person can say why they are.
ThanksWhat you say when someone passes the rolls.
TogetherIn one place, with each other. It is the reason for the long trip.
TraditionSomething a family does the same way every year, such as who carves or who brings the pie.
VolunteerA person who helps without being paid, for example by serving meals at a shelter.
Turkey Facts 12
BeardA tuft of stiff, hair-like feathers on a male turkey's chest. About one female in ten has one too.
CarunclesThe bumpy, fleshy growths on a turkey's bare head.
FeathersA turkey has about 5,000 to 6,000 of them.
GobbleThe call of a male turkey. It carries as far as a mile.
HenA female turkey, much smaller than the male.
PoultA baby turkey.
RoostTo settle for the night. Wild turkeys do it high in trees, because they see poorly in the dark.
SnoodThe fleshy flap that hangs over a turkey's bill. It grows longer when a male is excited.
StrutThe slow, proud walk of a male turkey with his tail fanned out.
TomA grown male turkey.
WattleThe red skin that hangs from a turkey's throat and neck.
WishboneThe forked bone from a bird's chest. Two people pull it apart, and the bigger piece earns a wish.
Thanksgiving Day 12
BalloonsGiant ones float above the streets of New York City in the holiday march that was first held in 1924.
CenterpieceThe decoration in the middle of the table: a cornucopia, candles or a bowl of gourds.
FootballThe sport on television all afternoon. Games have been played on this holiday since the late 1800s.
GourdsHard-shelled, bumpy relatives of the squash, dried and set out as fall decoration.
HandprintTrace around your fingers and thumb, add a beak and feet, and this becomes a paper turkey.
HolidayA day when schools and most offices close.
NapA short sleep, popular on the couch after the big meal.
ParadeMarching bands and floats on the morning of the holiday. Philadelphia's first stepped off in 1920, New York's in 1924.
TableclothA large cloth spread over the table before the plates go down.
TouchdownSix points in football, scored by carrying or catching the ball in the end zone.
TravelTo go from one place to another, by car, train or plane, to reach the family table.
TrotA turkey one is a footrace on or near the holiday. Buffalo, New York, first ran one in 1896.
How this list was compiled: 100 Thanksgiving words chosen and defined for this site, in five themed lists (the dinner, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag in 1621 and how the holiday got its date, giving thanks, turkey facts, and the day itself) plus three cross-cutting lists: 24 favorites that open the page, the 29 short words of 3 to 5 letters and the 43 long words of 8 to 12 letters. Every entry is a single word of 3 to 12 letters with no spaces, hyphens or apostrophes, so every list fits a 12 by 12 grid or larger. No clue contains its own word, because the clue replaces the word in clue mode. No brand, team, character or product name is included, and no costume or stereotype words; the only people named are historical figures (Massasoit, Tisquantum, William Bradford, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Sarah Josepha Hale). Definitions are our own wording for readers of about 7 to 12. Facts with a date, a place or a number in them were checked on 2026-09-19 against these English Wikipedia articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States) (fourth Thursday of November, fixed by Congress in 1941 and signed on December 26, 1941; earliest date November 22 and latest November 28; three-day harvest celebration at Plymouth in autumn 1621; Massasoit with some ninety men; five deer; four men sent fowling; Bradford on cod, bass and wild turkeys; no potatoes and no pies for want of butter, wheat flour and sugar; Tisquantum taught eel catching and corn growing and served as interpreter; peace treaty; Washington's proclamation of October 3, 1789; Lincoln's 1863 proclamation for the last Thursday of November after Sarah Josepha Hale's editorials and appeals to presidents; Philadelphia parade from 1920 and New York parade since 1924; football on the holiday since the late 19th century), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower (sailed from Plymouth, England, on September 16, 1620, with 102 passengers; about ten weeks at sea; anchored at Cape Cod; about half the passengers died in the first winter), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampanoag (People of the First Light; 67 villages before English contact; women grew the three sisters of maize, climbing beans and squash; Massasoit as sachem), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_turkey (native to North America; tom, hen and poults; snood, wattles, caruncles and beard, which about 10 percent of females have; roosts in trees because of poor night vision; gobble heard up to a mile away; 5,000 to 6,000 feathers), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranberry (beds flooded for harvest so the fruit floats), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin (a winter squash native to North America, among the oldest domesticated plants), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_potato (called yams in parts of North America but distinct from the true yam), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecan (a hickory that grows wild in the southern United States and northern Mexico), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuffing (breadcrumbs, onion, celery and sage; also called dressing in the United States; cooked in the bird or separately), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornucopia (Latin cornu, horn, and copia, abundance; the horn of plenty), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furcula (the wishbone custom, the larger piece earning the wish), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Thanksgiving_Turkey_Presentation (the pardon made a permanent yearly custom in 1989) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_trot (footraces on or around Thanksgiving; Buffalo, New York, since 1896). The spellings Handprint and Caruncles were checked on Wiktionary the same day. Review fix 2026-09-20 (round 4): three clues that said "the oldest", "has held one since" and "a yearly custom since" now give a first year only, which cannot go out of date. Read that day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6abc_Dunkin%27_Donuts_Thanksgiving_Day_Parade ("began in 1920"; the 2020 parade was television only, and the article names an older holiday parade in Peoria, so the Parade clue no longer says oldest and gives New York's start beside it), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macy%27s_Thanksgiving_Day_Parade ("The parade was first held in 1924"),https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkey_trot ("The oldest documented turkey trot ... in Buffalo, New York, dates to 1896") and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Thanksgiving_Turkey_Presentation (the pardon became "a permanent part of the presentation" in 1989; an earlier president joked about one in 1987, so the Pardon clue says fixed part and not first). The Balloons clue said the march "has been held since 1924"; it now says first held in 1924, from the same article. Licence: own work
How it works
This Thanksgiving word search printable opens with Large print on. Its 16 words (Turkey, Gravy, Mayflower) run across and down. New puzzle picks another 16 of the 24 favorites, and the Start from a list row has all 100 words.
Read the full guide
Dinner, Plymouth and giving thanks
Thanksgiving Dinner has 28 words, Pilgrims and Wampanoag 26 and Giving Thanks 22. Turkey Facts and Thanksgiving Day hold 12 each, so a puzzle uses all 12. Easy Thanksgiving has the 29 words of 3 to 5 letters (Pie, Corn, Feast). Hard Thanksgiving has 43 of 8 to 12, Cornucopia and Proclamation included.
What large print changes on paper
Large print is ticked under More options when the page opens. With 16 words the job is 2 pages: the puzzle with its word list in 3 columns, then the answer key. Type more than about 21 words and the large print list moves to a sheet of its own, making 3 pages.
In Turkey Facts, the Snood clue surprises: the flap over a turkey's bill grows longer when a male is excited.
Press New puzzle before each print: Thanksgiving word search puzzles then differ, one per cousin at the kids' table.
Questions and answers
Is there a Thanksgiving word search in large print?
This one opens that way: a Thanksgiving word search large print sheet with grid squares 1 cm wide and a word list in 18 point type. For bigger letters, choose Easy Thanksgiving and tick Large print in More options.
When did Thanksgiving become a national holiday?
In 1863, when Lincoln named the last Thursday of November a national day of thanks. Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, had pressed presidents for it in articles and letters. In 1941 Congress fixed the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.
What did they eat at the first Thanksgiving?
Venison from five deer the Wampanoag guests brought, and fowl that four men were sent to hunt. Plymouth also had cod, bass and eels. There were no potatoes and no pie: the colony had no butter, wheat flour or sugar. The feast lasted three days.