WWII Word Search

Print a World War 2 word search of places, battles and terms from 1939 to 1945, with its answer key.

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World War II Word Search

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0 of 16 words found

OIWUGFSRATIONRU

GDDAYADENIGMAAR

MMEXYNALLIESESO

IRYIEVTAUHTSFUR

DNYSSFRUFGREWGK

WOSOUAEYCYEDRES

ARHIROSHIMAIMBL

YMZSRTIARMICXUG

IAPPEASEMENTWES

PNFVNUTONCVAFQT

HDBIDNABEIATNEP

CYOZEBNLSNSORUV

SNHDRVCIQZIRFCE

NLNRIVETEROBTTG

TLNCNSNZDUNKIRK

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.

DictatorDICTATOR
AppeasementAPPEASEMENT
InvasionINVASION
AlliesALLIES
AxisAXIS
ResistanceRESISTANCE
DunkirkDUNKIRK
NormandyNORMANDY
D-DayD-DAY
MidwayMIDWAY
HiroshimaHIROSHIMA
EnigmaENIGMA
RationRATION
BlitzBLITZ
RiveterRIVETER
SurrenderSURRENDER

16 of 24 words from the World War II list.

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Answer key: World War II Word Search

OIWUGFSRATIONRU

GDDAYADENIGMAAR

MMEXYNALLIESESO

IRYIEVTAUHTSFUR

DNYSSFRUFGREWGK

WOSOUAEYCYEDRES

ARHIROSHIMAIMBL

YMZSRTIARMICXUG

IAPPEASEMENTWES

PNFVNUTONCVAFQT

HDBIDNABEIATNEP

CYOZEBNLSNSORUV

SNHDRVCIQZIRFCE

NLNRIVETEROBTTG

TLNCNSNZDUNKIRK

DICTATOR, APPEASEMENT, INVASION, ALLIES, AXIS, RESISTANCE, DUNKIRK, NORMANDY, D-DAY, MIDWAY, HIROSHIMA, ENIGMA, RATION, BLITZ, RIVETER, SURRENDER

Next step Make a puzzle from your own World War 2 list Scramble the same 1939 to 1945 words

All 145 words

Road to War 16

Anschluss German name for the takeover of Austria in March 1938.
Appeasement Giving a threatening country what it demands in the hope of keeping the peace.
Depression The hard years after the stock market crash of 1929, when banks failed and jobs vanished.
Dictator A ruler who holds all the power and answers to no vote.
Embargo A ban on selling goods to a country. The United States cut off oil sales to Japan in 1941.
Ethiopia African country that Italy invaded in October 1935.
Fascism Rule by one leader and one party, with the nation set above every person in it.
Invasion An army crossing a border to take another country's land.
Isolationism The wish to stay out of other nations' quarrels, strong in the United States in the 1930s.
Manchuria Region of northeast China that Japan invaded in September 1931.
Munich German city where Britain and France agreed in 1938 that Germany could take part of Czechoslovakia.
Neutrality Taking no side in a war.
Nonaggression The kind of pact Germany and the Soviet Union signed in August 1939, each promising not to attack the other.
Poland The country attacked on September 1, 1939, the day the war in Europe began.
Rhineland German region beside France that was to stay free of soldiers; troops marched in during March 1936.
Sudetenland The border region of Czechoslovakia handed to Germany in the autumn of 1938.

Show all 145 words (129 more)

Allies and Axis 14

Allies The side led by Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States and China.
Axis The side led by Germany, Italy and Japan.
Big Three Nickname for the leaders of Britain, the Soviet Union and the United States when they met.
Britain Island nation that declared war on September 3, 1939 and fought until the end.
Canada Country whose troops took Juno Beach on June 6, 1944.
China Asian country at war with Japan from July 1937.
Free French Forces that fought on from abroad after their country fell in June 1940.
Lend-Lease American program, law from March 1941, that sent food, fuel, ships and planes to the Allies.
Netherlands Low-lying country that Germany invaded in May 1940.
Norway Northern country of fjords that Germany invaded in April 1940.
Occupation Rule over a country by a foreign army that has moved in.
Resistance Secret groups in occupied countries that fought back with sabotage, hidden presses and spying.
Soviet Union Vast country to the east that Germany invaded in June 1941.
Vichy Spa town that gave its name to the French government that worked with Germany from 1940.

War in Europe and Africa 26

Ardennes Forested hills of Belgium and Luxembourg where Germany made its last big attack in the west.
Atlantic Ocean where convoys and submarines fought the longest campaign of the war.
Bastogne Belgian crossroads town where surrounded American troops held out in December 1944.
Berlin German capital that fell to the Soviet army on May 2, 1945.
Blitzkrieg German for lightning war: a fast strike by tanks and planes together.
Bulge The battle of December 1944 is named for this dent pushed into the Allied line.
D-Day Short name for June 6, 1944, the day of the landings in France.
Dunkirk French port where more than 300,000 Allied soldiers were rescued by sea in 1940.
El Alamein Egyptian railway stop where the Allies turned the Axis back in late 1942.
Juno Code name of the landing beach taken by Canadian troops.
Leningrad Soviet city that held out through a siege of 872 days.
Luftwaffe The German air force.
Maginot Name of the line of forts France built along its border with Germany.
Malta Small island in the Mediterranean that held out under bombing; its people were given the George Cross.
Moscow Soviet capital that German armies came close to but did not take in the winter of 1941.
Normandy Region of northern France where the Allies came ashore on June 6, 1944.
Omaha Code name of one of the two beaches where American troops landed on June 6, 1944.
Overlord Code name for the Allied invasion of northwest Europe in 1944.
Phony War Nickname for the quiet months in the west between the autumn of 1939 and the spring of 1940.
Rhine The river the western Allies crossed into Germany in March 1945.
Sicily Island the Allies invaded in July 1943 on the way to Italy.
Stalingrad Soviet city on the Volga where a German army surrendered in February 1943.
Sword Code name of the easternmost of the five landing beaches.
Tunisia North African country where the last Axis forces in Africa gave up in May 1943.
Utah Code name of the landing beach farthest west of the five.
Warsaw Polish capital that rose against its occupiers in August 1944.

War in the Pacific 22

Aleutians Chain of Alaskan islands; Japan held two of them, Attu and Kiska.
Bataan Peninsula where American and Filipino troops surrendered in April 1942.
Burma Country between India and China where the Allies fought through jungle and mountains.
Coral Sea Battle of May 1942 in which the two fleets never saw each other; planes did the fighting.
Corregidor Island fortress at the mouth of Manila Bay that fell in May 1942.
Guadalcanal Island in the Solomons where American marines landed in August 1942.
Guam American island territory captured in December 1941 and retaken in 1944.
Hiroshima Japanese city struck by the first atomic bomb used in war, on August 6, 1945.
Island Hopping Allied plan of taking some islands and passing by others on the way to Japan.
Iwo Jima Small volcanic island where marines raised a flag on Mount Suribachi in February 1945.
Leyte Gulf Waters off the Philippines where a great sea battle was fought in October 1944.
Manila Capital of the Philippines, retaken early in 1945.
Midway Small atoll near which the United States Navy won a turning-point battle in June 1942.
Nagasaki Japanese port city struck by an atomic bomb on August 9, 1945.
New Guinea Huge island north of Australia, fought over from 1942 to 1945.
Oahu The Hawaiian island where the naval base attacked in 1941 lies.
Okinawa Island close to Japan where the last big battle of the Pacific began in April 1945.
Pearl Harbor American naval base in Hawaii attacked on December 7, 1941.
Philippines Island nation invaded by Japan in December 1941; the Allies returned in October 1944.
Singapore British island base in Southeast Asia that surrendered in February 1942.
Tokyo Capital of Japan. The surrender was signed aboard a battleship in its bay.
Wake Island Lonely Pacific atoll that fell to Japan in December 1941.

Machines and Codes 22

Amphibious Describes an attack that comes from the sea onto land.
Battleship The largest gun ship of a navy.
Bletchley English country estate where codebreakers worked in secret.
Bomber A plane built to carry and drop bombs.
Carrier A warship with a flat deck that planes take off from and land on.
Code Talkers Navajo marines, and men of other Native nations, who sent radio messages in their own languages.
Codebreaker Someone who works out how to read an enemy's secret messages.
Destroyer A fast small warship that guards convoys and hunts submarines.
Enigma German cipher machine whose messages Allied codebreakers learned to read.
Fighter A small fast plane built to shoot down other planes.
Glider A plane with no engine. Towed ones carried troops silently into France.
Jet Kind of engine with no propeller, first flown in combat in this war.
Landing Craft Flat-bottomed boat with a ramp that carries troops from ship to beach.
Liberty Ship Plain cargo vessel built fast in American yards; 2,710 were made.
Mulberry Code name for the floating harbors towed across the Channel after the landings in France.
Panzer German word for armor, used for German tanks.
Paratrooper A soldier who jumps from a plane with a parachute.
Radar Radio waves that find planes and ships far off, by night or through cloud.
Rocket A craft pushed by burning fuel. The first long-range ones were used in war in 1944.
Sonar Sound pulses that find a submarine under water.
Spitfire British single-seat fighter plane of the air battles of 1940.
Submarine A warship that travels under water.

Home Front 23

Air Raid An attack on a town by planes.
Blackout Covering windows and switching off street lights so night bombers could not find a town.
Blitz The German night bombing of London and other British cities in 1940 and 1941.
Censor To cut words from letters or news so that they give nothing away.
Coupon A stamp torn from a booklet to buy sugar, meat or gasoline.
Dog Tag Metal name disc worn on a chain by each soldier.
Enlist To sign up for the armed forces by choice, not by the draft.
Evacuee A child or other person moved from a city to the countryside for safety.
GI Bill Law of 1944 that helped returning troops pay for school and buy homes.
Internment The forced moving of Japanese Americans off the West Coast to guarded camps, from 1942.
Newsreel Short film of the week's news shown in theaters before the main picture.
Ration A fixed share of scarce food or fuel allowed to each person.
Riveter A worker who joins metal plates in an aircraft or ship plant; many were women.
Salvage To save used things so that they can be made into something new.
Scrap Drive A neighborhood collection of old metal, rubber and paper to be made into war goods.
Shelter A safe place underground or under a steel frame while bombs fell.
Siren The wailing alarm that warned of an attack from the air.
Tuskegee Alabama town where the first Black military pilots in the United States trained.
USO Three letters for the group that put on shows for the troops, founded in 1941.
V-Mail Letters photographed onto film to save cargo space, then printed again for the reader.
War Bonds Loans from citizens to their government to pay for the war, paid back later with interest.
Warden The neighbor who patrolled during air raids and checked that no window showed a light.
WAVES Name for the United States Naval Reserve's branch for women, begun in July 1942.

Victory and Peace 22

Baby Boom The jump in births in the years after the troops came home.
Charter The founding paper of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco in June 1945.
Cold War The long rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union that followed.
Homecoming The return of troops to their families.
Iron Curtain Name given in 1946 to the line dividing eastern from western Europe.
Liberation Setting a town or country free from an occupying army. For Paris it came in August 1944.
Medal An award pinned on for bravery or service.
Memorial A monument, or a day, kept so that people remember.
Nuremberg German city where Allied judges tried Nazi leaders for war crimes from November 1945.
Peace What the world had again in September 1945.
Potsdam Town near Berlin where the Allied leaders met in the summer of 1945.
Refugee A person forced by war to leave home.
Superpower Word for the two strongest nations after 1945.
Surrender To give up the fight. Germany did in May 1945; Japan signed on September 2, 1945.
Tehran Capital of Iran, where the three Allied leaders first met together in late 1943.
Unconditional Kind of surrender in which the loser is offered no terms.
United Nations World body founded in October 1945 to keep the peace.
V-E Day May 8, 1945, the day of victory in Europe.
V-J Day The day of victory over Japan, kept on August 15 or on September 2.
Veteran Someone who served in the armed forces.
Yalta Crimean resort where the three main Allied leaders met in February 1945.
Zones Germany was split into four of these, each run by one of the Allies.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the 145 words and every clue were written for this page. Dates and places in the clues were checked on October 9, 2026 against English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), starting from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II and the article on each battle, place or agreement named in a clue. Licence: own work

How it works

This WWII word search opens on 16 of 24 favorites, among them Normandy, D-Day, Midway, Allies, Axis, Ration and Blitz. Seven lists follow the war in order, from Road to War to Victory and Peace.

Read the full guide

A WW2 word search printable for each part of the unit

Start from a list splits the 145 words by topic: Road to War (16), Allies and Axis (14), War in Europe and Africa (26), War in the Pacific (22), Machines and Codes (22), Home Front (23), Victory and Peace (22). Pick one and nobody hunts for Okinawa in the week you teach Dunkirk.

Places, battles and terms, with no person as a word

The lists name no general and no leader. Type a name on the last line of the list and the grid takes it in. Every word has a clue: "Soviet city that held out through a siege of 872 days." is Leningrad.

Easy World War II keeps to 29 words of 3 to 5 letters, such as Axis, Blitz, Radar and Bulge.
Hard World War II holds the 71 words of 8 letters or more, Guadalcanal and Appeasement among them.
The grid drops spaces and hyphens, so look for PEARLHARBOR, IWOJIMA, DDAY and VEDAY.

Questions and answers

Is this World War Two word search suitable for middle school?

It is written for about grades 5 to 8. No clue gives a casualty figure or describes an injury, and the atomic bombings are named by city and date only. The Holocaust is not a puzzle word; it belongs in a lesson of its own.

Which battles are in the World War 2 word search printable?

War in Europe and Africa runs from Dunkirk and Stalingrad to Normandy, the Bulge and Berlin. War in the Pacific has Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. For the earlier war, print the World War 1 word search.

Can the printable World War II word search show clues in place of words?

Yes. Under More options, tick Show clues, not words. The sheet then prints "American naval base in Hawaii attacked on December 7, 1941." and the student has to name Pearl Harbor before finding it.

When did World War II start and end?

It began in Europe on September 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland, and ended on September 2, 1945, when Japan signed its surrender. Germany had surrendered in May 1945. Each date in the clues was read in English Wikipedia on October 9, 2026.

All 145 words

Road to War 16

Allies and Axis 14

War in Europe and Africa 26

War in the Pacific 22

Machines and Codes 22

Home Front 23

Victory and Peace 22

How it works

A WW2 word search printable for each part of the unit

Places, battles and terms, with no person as a word

Questions and answers

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