Trick or Treat Word Search

A puzzle of costumes, doorbells and candy for the last week of October, printed with its answer key.

Name Date

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

0 of 15 words found

BAGHOSTMOVEPRBE

ADPRRUSLUEBTMJY

AOUECKIIEMUOTUE

FOMTREATTECDFCY

GRPDEYLNVQKOSPA

MBKHWSHNCGEQCRO

NEIGHBOROTTEOEC

HLNMACIKLRSHSRT

ILRFLASHLIGHTZO

LMSNLNPORCHOUCB

TARNODFONKRPMME

SSOEWYNTYXSTEWR

UKLDETPEFDKGGAW

ILFAESQSJUBYSNU

AOELNZWHRTORNVS

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.

TrickTRICK
TreatTREAT
CandyCANDY
CostumeCOSTUME
DoorbellDOORBELL
PorchPORCH
FlashlightFLASHLIGHT
BucketBUCKET
BagBAG
NeighborNEIGHBOR
MaskMASK
GhostGHOST
PumpkinPUMPKIN
HalloweenHALLOWEEN
OctoberOCTOBER

15 of 20 words from the Trick-or-Treat list.

Choose three words from the list. Use them to write about the costume you would wear.

Start from a list

Easy: words go across and down.

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Word list

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

The puzzle changes as you go. See the puzzle

Answer key: Trick or Treat Word Search

BAGHOSTMOVEPRBE

ADPRRUSLUEBTMJY

AOUECKIIEMUOTUE

FOMTREATTECDFCY

GRPDEYLNVQKOSPA

MBKHWSHNCGEQCRO

NEIGHBOROTTEOEC

HLNMACIKLRSHSRT

ILRFLASHLIGHTZO

LMSNLNPORCHOUCB

TARNODFONKRPMME

SSOEWYNTYXSTEWR

UKLDETPEFDKGGAW

ILFAESQSJUBYSNU

AOELNZWHRTORNVS

TRICK, TREAT, CANDY, COSTUME, DOORBELL, PORCH, FLASHLIGHT, BUCKET, BAG, NEIGHBOR, MASK, GHOST, PUMPKIN, HALLOWEEN, OCTOBER

Next step Print a sign-up sheet for the class party Make a word search from your class's own costumes

All 138 words

At the Door 18

Answer To come and open up when callers ring.
Bowl The deep, round dish that a grown-up holds out full of candy.
Chime The two ringing notes that sound indoors when the button is pressed.
Doorbell The button to press at a front entrance before calling out the two famous choices.
Doorstep The low stair where callers stand and wait for someone to come.
Gate The way through a fence, which good callers close behind them.
Generous Giving freely, like the house that hands out full-size bars.
Handful As much candy as one fist can grab.
Knock To rap your knuckles on wood when a house has no button to press.
Neighbor A person who lives close by, and whose house is likely the first stop.
Please The word that turns a demand for candy into a request.
Polite Showing good manners, such as taking only one piece when the dish is left out.
Porch The covered entrance of a house; a lamp left on there tells callers that candy is waiting.
Stairs The steps up to a front entrance, climbed with care in a long costume.
Thanks What a caller says once the candy has dropped into the sack.
Visitor Someone who comes to a house for a short time, as each costumed caller does.
Wave A hand moved from side to side to say goodbye before the next house.
Welcome Glad to see callers; decorations are one way a house says so.

Show all 138 words (120 more)

Costumes 23

Astronaut A space traveler, played with a helmet and a silver suit.
Ballerina A ballet dancer, dressed in a tutu and slippers.
Chef The head cook of a kitchen, played with a tall white hat and a wooden spoon.
Clown A circus joker with a red nose and floppy shoes.
Costume Clothes that turn the wearer into someone or something else for one night.
Cowboy A cattle herder of the Old West, played with a wide hat and a bandanna.
Dinosaur A giant reptile of long ago, a favorite outfit with a long stuffed tail.
Disguise Anything worn so that the neighbors cannot tell who is underneath.
Explorer A traveler to unknown places, played with a map and binoculars.
Face paint Color brushed on cheeks and foreheads to make whiskers, stitches or stars.
Ghost A spirit in scary stories; an old sheet with two eyeholes makes the simplest outfit of all.
Glitter Tiny shiny specks that cling to a fairy's cheeks for days afterward.
Homemade Sewn, glued or painted by the family, not bought in a store.
Ladybug A red beetle with black spots, a favorite outfit for the youngest callers.
Mask A cover for the face, with holes cut for the eyes.
Mermaid A sea creature of stories, half woman and half fish.
Panda A bear of China's mountains with bold black and white fur, an easy outfit to finish with face paint.
Parade A march past an audience; many schools hold one so that every class can show its outfits.
Pilot The flyer of an airplane, played with a cap and a pair of goggles.
Pretend To act as if you really were the creature you are dressed as.
Princess A king's or queen's daughter, dressed in a gown and a tiara.
Robot A machine that does jobs; cardboard boxes and foil can make a child into one.
Unicorn A storybook horse with one horn, a favorite hooded outfit.

Treats and the Haul 28

Apple In parts of Canada some children call out the name of this fruit after the word Halloween.
Bite-size Just big enough for one mouthful, as most pieces in the sack are.
Candy Sweet food made with sugar, the usual prize of the night.
Chocolate The sweet brown food made from cacao that fills many small wrapped bars.
Coin Metal money; in some places callers are handed this, not candy.
Count To find out how many pieces came home.
Eraser A shaped bit of rubber that comes home in the sack and later rubs out mistakes.
Favorite The kind of candy you fish out and eat first.
Gumdrop A small, chewy candy of sweetened gelatin with a sugar coat.
Haul Everything gathered in one night's rounds.
Licorice Candy, often black, that gets its taste from the root of a plant.
Lollipop Hard candy on a stick.
Loot A playful word for all the candy collected.
Pencil A writing stick that some houses hand out in place of sweets.
Pile A heap of candy tipped out on the floor.
Popcorn Kernels that burst open in the heat; pressed with syrup, they make a wrapped ball.
Pretzel A salty baked knot, a treat for a house that skips sweets.
Raisins Dried grapes, handed out in tiny boxes.
Share To let a little brother or a parent have some of your candy.
Sort To lay the night's candy out in sets of the same kind.
Stash Candy hidden away to last into November.
Sticker A picture that peels off its sheet, a prize that is not food.
Swap A quick exchange of one piece for another.
Sweets What children in Britain call candy.
Taffy Chewy candy of boiled sugar, pulled until it turns glossy.
Trade To hand a brother or sister one kind of candy in return for a better one.
Treat A small gift of something good to eat; the happy half of the choice called out at each house.
Wrapper The crinkly paper or foil that is left when the candy is gone.

Up and Down the Street 20

Block The stretch of homes between one cross street and the next.
Corner Where two roads meet and a group decides which way to turn.
Crosswalk The striped place for getting over the road to the houses opposite.
Curb The raised stone edge where the pavement drops to the road.
Driveway The private strip of pavement that leads up to a garage.
Fence A barrier of boards or wire along the edge of a yard.
Friends The people you most want to make the rounds with.
Group Several friends who make the rounds together.
House A home on the route; each one is a chance to ring and call out.
Lamppost A tall pole that lights the road after sunset.
Lawn The mown grass in front of a house, where the decorations often stand.
Mailbox The container for letters at the end of a driveway.
Parent The mother or father who comes along on the rounds.
Parking lot An open area where cars are left, and where a trunk-or-treat is often held.
Route The planned way around the neighborhood and back home.
Sidewalk The paved strip beside a road where callers go on foot.
Street A road in a town, lined with the houses to visit.
Stroller A folding chair on wheels for a baby who comes along in costume.
Trunk A car's storage space; at some school gatherings, candy is handed out from open ones.
Wagon A small cart with a long handle, pulled along for the youngest callers.

Things to Carry 16

Backpack A carrier worn on the shoulders, handy when the bucket fills up.
Bag A sack of paper, cloth or plastic, held open at each house.
Basket A carrier of woven straw or cane, used by some callers in place of a sack.
Battery The cell that powers a flashlight.
Bucket A round, open carrier with a handle, often molded as a grinning pumpkin.
Flashlight A hand lamp run by batteries, for seeing the path between houses.
Glow stick A plastic tube that gives light once, after it is bent and shaken.
Handle The part of a bucket that hangs from your fist.
Jacket A short coat that hides half the costume on a cold night.
Mittens Warm hand covers without separate fingers, clumsy for picking up candy.
Pail A bucket, by its other name.
Pillowcase A cover borrowed from the bed because it holds more candy than anything else.
Scarf A long strip of cloth wound around the neck on a cold night.
Sneakers Soft shoes with rubber soles, kind to feet on a long walk.
Tote A roomy cloth carrier with two straps.
Umbrella A folding shelter carried when rain threatens the rounds.

The Night of October 31 16

Autumn The season of falling leaves, in which the holiday comes.
Bedtime The hour that ends the fun, however full the sack is.
Breeze A light wind that sets the paper ghosts swinging.
Chilly Cold enough that a coat goes on over the costume.
Crisp Cool and dry, as the air is on a fall evening.
Dark With no daylight left, which is when a flashlight earns its place.
Decorations Cobwebs, lights and carved pumpkins; they tell callers that a house is taking part.
Dusk The dim time after sunset, when the rounds usually begin.
Evening The hours after supper, when the costumes finally go on.
Halloween The holiday of costumes and candy that ends the tenth month.
Leaves What crunches underfoot on the way from house to house.
Moonlight Pale light from Earth's natural satellite, bright enough on a clear night to walk by.
October The tenth month; trick-or-treating falls on its last evening.
Pumpkin A big orange squash, hollowed out and carved into a glowing face.
Stars The points of light overhead on a clear trick-or-treat night.
Sunset The end of daylight, and the signal for the first callers to set out.

Tricks, Jokes and Old Customs 17

Boo The shout that goes with jumping out at someone.
Canada The country where the call "trick or treat" was first recorded.
Custom Something a people has done for so long that it is expected.
Guising The Scottish and Irish name for calling at houses in costume and performing for food or coins.
Ireland A country where children once called "Help the Halloween party" at each house.
Joke A line said for a laugh; in some American cities a child tells one to earn the candy.
Mischief Playful trouble, the idle threat hidden in the famous call.
Ontario The Canadian province where a newspaper printed "tricks or treats" in 1917.
Phrase A short string of words; "trick or treat" was first printed in Canada in 1917.
Prank A harmless bit of fun played on someone.
Pun A joke built on two words that sound alike.
Rhyme A short poem with matching line endings; guisers recited one at each house.
Riddle A puzzle asked as a question, such as why the skeleton stayed home.
Scotland A country where going about in costume has been recorded since the 16th century.
Tradition A custom that each generation passes to the next.
Trick A prank; the first of the two choices in the call at each house.
Turnip A round root vegetable; hollowed out, it was the lantern of Scottish guisers in 1895.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Spellings and meanings were checked on 16 October 2026 in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (https://www.ahdictionary.com/). The customs, dates and places in the clues follow the English Wikipedia article Trick-or-treating (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trick-or-treating), read the same day; the glow stick clue follows the article Glow stick (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glow_stick). Guising, face paint and bite-size were also checked in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/guising). Licence: own work

How it works

Costume, Doorbell, Flashlight, Bucket, Porch and Neighbor are on the opening list of this trick or treat word search. It keeps to the evening itself; ghosts and monsters are on the Halloween word search.

Read the full guide

Seven lists, from the door to the haul

At the Door has Doorbell, Porch and Handful. Costumes has Astronaut, Ladybug and Face paint. Treats and the Haul has Lollipop, Sticker and Stash. Up and Down the Street has Sidewalk, Wagon and Lamppost. Things to Carry has Bucket, Pillowcase and Glow stick, and The Night of October 31 has Dusk, Pumpkin and Moonlight.

Where the call comes from

Tricks, Jokes and Old Customs holds the history. Guising is the Scottish and Irish name for calling at houses in costume, and Turnip is there for the lanterns guisers carried in 1895. "Tricks or treats" was first printed in an Ontario newspaper in 1917. The dates follow Wikipedia's article on trick-or-treating.

Costumes makes a quick class poll: each child circles the outfit closest to their own.

Questions and answers

Is the trick or treat word search free to print?

Yes, with no account. The print is two pages on Letter or A4: the puzzle, with a name and date line and a short writing task, then the answer key.

What words are in the trick or treat word search?

138 words and phrases. Short and Easy has 12 of 3 to 5 letters, such as Mask, Porch and Boo, and Long and Tricky has 35 of 8 letters or more, such as Pillowcase and Decorations.

Which list has the candy words?

Treats and the Haul, with 28 entries: 18 things that land in the bag, such as Taffy, Licorice and Raisins, and 10 words for afterward, such as Sort, Trade and Swap.

Does the word search fit a trunk-or-treat?

Yes. Trunk and Parking lot are in Up and Down the Street, and their clues say what a trunk-or-treat is: candy handed out from the open backs of parked cars, often at a school.

All 138 words

At the Door 18

Costumes 23

Treats and the Haul 28

Up and Down the Street 20

Things to Carry 16

The Night of October 31 16

Tricks, Jokes and Old Customs 17

How it works

Seven lists, from the door to the haul

Where the call comes from

Questions and answers

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