Printable Word Search for the 13 Colonies

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13 Colonies Word Search

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ONMVIRGINIAHCSN

POAMTLYUEHRBOHS

IRSGCGHYWSHSNYO

TTSIIFBOJQOSNQU

PHAOSXVOEYDFEFT

TCCNEWYORKEOCRH

EAHEDDSGSAIUTRC

FRUBEEEEERSGIEA

NOSALSHSYSLECFR

MLEEAZTUOYAOUHO

FITCWFNSCSNRTWL

NNTMARYLANDGGOI

PASTRHKZNLTILNN

LZBPENNSYLVANIA

ENRNEWHAMPSHIRE

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.

VirginiaVIRGINIA
MassachusettsMASSACHUSETTS
New HampshireNEW HAMPSHIRE
MarylandMARYLAND
ConnecticutCONNECTICUT
Rhode IslandRHODE ISLAND
DelawareDELAWARE
North CarolinaNORTH CAROLINA
South CarolinaSOUTH CAROLINA
New YorkNEW YORK
New JerseyNEW JERSEY
PennsylvaniaPENNSYLVANIA
GeorgiaGEORGIA

13 words from the The 13 Colonies list.

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Answer key: 13 Colonies Word Search

ONMVIRGINIAHCSN

POAMTLYUEHRBOHS

IRSGCGHYWSHSNYO

TTSIIFBOJQOSNQU

PHAOSXVOEYDFEFT

TCCNEWYORKEOCRH

EAHEDDSGSAIUTRC

FRUBEEEEERSGIEA

NOSALSHSYSLECFR

MLEEAZTUOYAOUHO

FITCWFNSCSNRTWL

NNTMARYLANDGGOI

PASTRHKZNLTILNN

LZBPENNSYLVANIA

ENRNEWHAMPSHIRE

VIRGINIA, MASSACHUSETTS, NEW HAMPSHIRE, MARYLAND, CONNECTICUT, RHODE ISLAND, DELAWARE, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA, NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, GEORGIA

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All 135 words

The 13 Colonies 13

Connecticut New England colony whose Fundamental Orders of 1639 set out a plan of government.
Delaware Small colony on a bay; it shared a governor with Pennsylvania but was granted its own assembly in 1701.
Georgia The last of the thirteen, chartered in 1732 and named for King George II.
Maryland Chesapeake colony chartered in 1632 for the Calvert family as a haven for English Catholics.
Massachusetts New England colony where a Puritan fleet arrived in 1630 and founded Boston.
New Hampshire New England colony north of Boston, named after a county in the south of England.
New Jersey Middle colony between two rivers, once divided into an East half and a West half.
New York Middle colony taken from the Dutch in 1664 and renamed for an English duke.
North Carolina Southern colony of small farms, pine forests and tar, split from its twin in 1712.
Pennsylvania Middle colony granted to a Quaker in 1681; the name means his father's woods.
Rhode Island The smallest of the thirteen, begun in 1636 by people who wanted freedom of worship.
South Carolina Southern colony that grew rich on rice and indigo shipped out of Charles Town.
Virginia The first lasting English colony, begun on the James River in 1607.

Show all 135 words (122 more)

Regions and Towns 21

Appalachians The long mountain range that stood west of the colonies like a wall.
Backcountry The thinly settled land far from the coast, toward the mountains.
Boston Puritan town on a harbor, founded in 1630; the largest town in New England.
Cape Cod Hook of sandy land where the Mayflower first dropped anchor in November 1620.
Charles Town Chief port of the southern colonies, founded in 1670; today its name is spelled as one shorter word.
Chesapeake The great bay shared by Virginia and Maryland, lined with tobacco farms.
Fall Line Where rivers drop over rapids from the hills to the coastal plain; boats from the sea stopped here.
Germantown Settlement of 1683 near Philadelphia, begun by families from the Rhineland.
Hudson The river that Dutch and English traders sailed north from Manhattan.
Jamestown Virginia settlement of 1607, the first English town in America to last.
Middle Colonies New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, known for wheat and mixed peoples.
Nantucket Island off Massachusetts whose crews hunted whales far out at sea.
New England The four northern colonies, with rocky soil, fishing ports and town meetings.
New Haven Puritan harbor town of 1638, laid out in nine squares.
Newport Busy island harbor in the smallest colony, founded in 1639.
Philadelphia City laid out in 1682 between two rivers; its Greek name means brotherly love.
Piedmont Rolling hills between the coastal plain and the mountains; the name means foot of the mountain.
Plymouth Where the Mayflower passengers built their colony in 1620.
Potomac The river that divides Maryland from Virginia.
Savannah The first town of Georgia, laid out in 1733 around open squares.
Tidewater Low coastal land where ocean tides push up the rivers; home of the big planters.

Founders and Peoples 23

Anne Hutchinson She held religious meetings in her Boston home and was banished after a trial in 1637.
Bradford Longtime governor of Plymouth, who wrote its history.
Dutch The people of the Netherlands, who founded the colony that became New York.
Huguenots French Protestants, some of whom fled to New York and Carolina.
Iroquois A league of nations in what became upstate New York, strong in the fur trade.
John Rolfe The planter who grew the first Virginia tobacco that sold well in England.
John Smith The captain who led Jamestown through its hungry first years and mapped the coast.
Lenape The people of the Delaware Valley, who sold land to the founder of Pennsylvania.
Lord Baltimore The title of the Calvert family, owners of Maryland.
Massasoit The leader who kept peace with Plymouth for about forty years.
Oglethorpe The founder of Georgia, who wanted a fresh start for poor people and debtors.
Pilgrims The Plymouth settlers, who left the Church of England and crossed the ocean in 1620.
Pocahontas Daughter of a Virginia chief; she married a tobacco planter in 1614.
Powhatan The chief, and the union of Algonquian-speaking peoples, who met the English in Virginia.
Puritans Protestants who wanted a simpler, stricter church and settled New England in the 1630s.
Quakers Members of the Society of Friends, who refused to fight and found a home in Pennsylvania.
Roger Williams Minister who said government should stay out of worship; he founded a colony in 1636.
Separatists English Protestants who broke away from the national church altogether.
Stuyvesant The last Dutch director of New Netherland, who gave it up to an English fleet in 1664.
Thomas Hooker The minister who left Massachusetts with his followers and helped found Hartford.
Wampanoag The people of the Plymouth region, who made a peace treaty with the settlers in 1621.
William Penn The Quaker who founded a colony of his own in 1681 and planned its chief city.
Winthrop Governor of Massachusetts Bay for twelve of its first twenty years, who spoke of a city upon a hill.

Colonial Trades 24

Adze A tool like an axe with its blade set crossways, for smoothing beams.
Anvil The heavy iron block on which hot metal is hammered into shape.
Apothecary Mixes and sells medicines, in a shop lined with jars.
Awl A pointed tool for punching holes in leather.
Blacksmith Heats iron in a forge and hammers it into tools, nails and hinges.
Chandler Makes and sells candles.
Cobbler Mends shoes.
Cooper Makes barrels and casks from wooden staves and hoops.
Farrier Trims hooves and nails shoes on horses.
Forge The hot fire, blown with bellows, where iron is softened for hammering.
Indentured Bound by contract to work for a master for a set number of years, often to pay for the voyage.
Joiner A woodworker who fits doors, window frames and paneling.
Loom The frame on which thread is crossed, over and under, to make cloth.
Miller Grinds grain into flour and meal between heavy stones.
Milliner Makes and trims hats, and often sells cloth and ribbons too.
Printer Sets metal type by hand and presses newspapers, laws and almanacs.
Saddler Makes seats and harness for horses out of leather.
Sawyer Cuts logs into boards.
Shipwright Builds wooden ships.
Silversmith Shapes fine cups, spoons and buckles from a pale precious metal.
Tanner Turns animal hides into leather.
Weaver Works a loom to turn thread into cloth.
Wheelwright Builds and mends the wooden wheels of carts and wagons.
Wigmaker Makes the powdered hairpieces that gentlemen wore.

Crops and Shipping 24

Barter To trade goods for goods, with no money.
Cash Crop Something grown to sell, not to eat at home.
Cod A fish caught off New England, then salted and dried for sale overseas.
Flax A plant with blue flowers whose stalks are spun into linen thread.
Harbor Sheltered water where ships load and unload.
Hogshead A very large barrel, packed tight with dried leaves for the voyage to England.
Indigo A plant that gives a deep blue dye; a leading Carolina export.
Mast The tall pole that holds a ship's sails; the tallest white pines in the colonies were marked for it.
Mercantilism The idea that colonies exist to make the home country rich through trade.
Molasses Thick dark syrup from sugar cane, shipped north from the Caribbean.
Naval Stores Tar, pitch and turpentine from pine trees, used to keep wooden ships watertight.
Navigation Acts English laws, the first in 1651, that said colonial goods must travel on English ships.
Pitch A thick black sealer boiled down from pine sap, pressed into the seams of a ship.
Rice Grain grown in flooded Carolina fields by enslaved Africans who knew how to raise it.
Schooner A fast ship with two or more masts, popular with New England fishing crews.
Shilling An English silver coin; twenty made a pound.
Shipbuilding A New England industry fed by tall forests close to deep water.
Sloop A small ship with one mast, used for trade along the coast.
Tar Sticky black liquid cooked from pine wood, painted on ropes and hulls.
Tobacco The leaf crop that made Virginia pay, raised more and more by enslaved workers.
Wampum Shell beads made by coastal peoples, used in treaties and at times as money.
Whale Oil Lamp fuel boiled from blubber, sold by Nantucket crews.
Wharf A platform built out over the water for tying up ships.
Wheat The grain that earned the Middle Colonies the name of breadbasket colonies.

Home, School and Government 30

Assembly The lawmakers that colonists elected.
Barn The farm building for hay, grain and animals.
Breeches Trousers that end just below the knee.
Burgesses Members of the Virginia house that first met in 1619, the first elected lawmakers in English America.
Butter Churn A tub with a plunger for beating cream until it thickens.
Charter A paper from the king giving the right to start a colony and saying how to run it.
Dame School A small school kept by a woman in her own home.
Governor The chief official of a colony.
Great Awakening A wave of outdoor preaching and revival that swept the colonies in the 1730s and 1740s.
Hearth The floor of the fireplace, where a family cooked and kept warm.
Homespun Plain cloth made at home.
Johnnycake A flat cake of cornmeal cooked on a griddle.
Longhouse A long bark-covered house shared by several Iroquois families.
Maize Corn; a grain that Native farmers grew long before the settlers came.
Pew A long wooden bench in a church.
Pillory A wooden frame in the town square that held a wrongdoer by head and hands.
Primer A first reading book; New England had a famous one.
Proprietary The kind of colony owned by one person or family, as Maryland was.
Quill A pen cut from a goose feather.
Quilt A warm bed cover stitched from layers of cloth.
Royal Colony A colony ruled directly by the king through a governor he chose.
Sabbath The day of rest and worship; Puritans allowed no sport or games on it.
Sampler A piece of cloth on which a girl stitched letters to practice needlework.
Slate A thin flat stone to write on with chalk in school.
Spinning Wheel A machine worked by foot or hand that twists wool or flax into thread.
Tavern An inn where travelers ate and slept and neighbors heard the news.
Toleration Letting people worship in their own way; a Maryland act of 1649 gave it to Christians.
Town Crier The person who walked the streets ringing a bell and calling out the news.
Tricorn A hat with three sides of its brim folded up.
Wigwam A domed house of bent poles covered with bark or mats, built by peoples of the Northeast.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the 135 words and every clue were written for this page. Dates, names and places in the clues were checked on October 7, 2026 against English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), among them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteen_Colonies, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England_Colonies, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Colonies and the article on each person, place or thing named in a clue. Licence: own work

How it works

This printable word search for the 13 colonies opens on exactly the thirteen names, Virginia to Georgia. Five more lists cover colonial America: regions and towns, founders and peoples, trades, crops and shipping, and home life.

Read the full guide

All 13 colony names on one sheet

The first sheet hides all thirteen names and nothing else. Each clue carries a founding fact, so Georgia reads "The last of the thirteen, chartered in 1732 and named for King George II." Two-word names hide as one run of letters: NEWHAMPSHIRE, RHODEISLAND, NORTHCAROLINA.

Colonial trades and daily life

Pick Colonial America under Start from a list for a mixed sheet: Jamestown, Pilgrims, Quakers, Tobacco. Colonial Trades has 24 words, from Blacksmith, Cooper and Wheelwright to Apothecary and Farrier. Home, School and Government runs from Hearth, Quill and Dame School to Burgesses and Charter. For the years after the colonies, print the US history word search.

Easy Colonial America keeps to 21 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Cod, Loom, Quill and Barn.
Under More options, tick Show clues, not words, for a review sheet: "Makes barrels and casks from wooden staves and hoops." leads to Cooper.

Questions and answers

What are the 13 colonies by region?

New England: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Middle: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Southern: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Which of the 13 colonies was first and which was last?

Virginia was first, begun on the James River in 1607. Georgia was last, chartered in 1732. Both dates are in the clues, beside Maryland in 1632, Rhode Island in 1636 and Pennsylvania in 1681.

Does the colonial America word search name Native peoples?

Yes. Founders and Peoples has the Powhatan, Wampanoag, Lenape and Iroquois, with Pocahontas and Massasoit, beside the Pilgrims, Puritans and Quakers. Wigwam and Longhouse are in Home, School and Government.

All 135 words

The 13 Colonies 13

Regions and Towns 21

Founders and Peoples 23

Colonial Trades 24

Crops and Shipping 24

Home, School and Government 30

How it works

All 13 colony names on one sheet

Colonial trades and daily life

Questions and answers

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