Free Crossword Puzzle Maker
Free instant PDF — no signup, no watermark, no word limit. You get two pages: the puzzle and the filled-in answer key.
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Type your words and clues into the box, one per line, with a colon between them — HORSE: animal you ride. Or pick one of the ready-made themes and edit it from there. The grid packs itself as you type and the preview shows the exact sheet you'll get. Click Download PDF and print; the filled-in answer key is page two of the same file, so there is nothing else to fetch, no menu to find, and nothing to sign up for.
What's included on each puzzle
Every sheet is a full page with a name and date line at the top, a numbered crossword grid, and an Across and Down clue list underneath. Page two is the same grid with every answer written in, in blue. The numbering follows the standard rule — a square is numbered when a word starts there, and the numbers run left to right, top to bottom — so the puzzle works the way one from a newspaper works. Every crossing is checked as the grid is built: two words that share a square always agree on the letter in it, and no run of letters appears that doesn't have a clue.
Tips for classroom crosswords
- Words that share plenty of common letters pack far better. A list heavy in vowels and in S, T, R and N will fit almost completely; a list of short words with rare letters will leave some over.
- If several words won't fit, raise the grid size before you cut anything. Then try a different arrangement — each one packs the same list a genuinely different way, and one often seats a word the others couldn't.
- Print the word bank version for students who are still building spelling confidence and the plain one for everyone else. It is the identical puzzle, so the class can check answers together.
- Write clues as definitions rather than as riddles when the point is vocabulary review. Save the wordplay for a puzzle whose point is the puzzle.
- Keep answers to words students can already spell. A crossword tests recall and spelling at the same time, and a word they have only ever read will stop them dead in a way that teaches nothing.
- Use it for a spelling list on Monday and hand the same grid back on Friday. Because a given list always builds the same puzzle, the second copy is identical without your having to save anything.
Customization options
Words and clues
Up to 50 pairs, one per line, answer first and clue after a colon. Words are matched on their letters only, so accents, spaces, hyphens and apostrophes are ignored and duplicates are dropped. A word with no clue gets its letter count as one, because an unclued square cannot be solved. Anything the grid can't seat is named on screen — nothing is ever silently discarded.
Themes
Six ready-made word and clue lists — animals, space, ocean, sports, food and school. Pick one to print immediately, or use it as a starting point and edit the lines; the moment you change anything the puzzle becomes your own.
Word bank
Prints the answers in a box between the grid and the clues. The grid is unchanged — the same puzzle, made easier — so a word-bank copy and a plain copy can be handed out side by side and marked together.
Largest grid
11×11 up to 21×21. This is a ceiling, not a fixed board: the finished puzzle is trimmed to whatever its words actually occupy, so a six-word list still comes out small and tight. Raise it when words won't fit; lower it if you want bigger squares for younger children.
Arrangement
Six layouts. Each one packs your list a different way and produces a genuinely different grid from the same words and clues — useful for making a second version for a re-test, or simply for finding the layout that seats the most of your words.
Paper size
US Letter (8.5 × 11 inches) or A4 (210 × 297 mm). The grid and the clue columns are recomputed to fit whichever sheet you choose, so nothing is stretched or clipped.
Frequently asked questions
How many words can I put in a crossword?
Up to 50 word and clue pairs, free, with no account. Most crossword makers cap free users at ten words and charge for more; here the only real limit is the grid itself. How many of your words actually fit depends on how many letters they share, so pick the largest grid size if you are pasting a long list — and anything that will not fit is named on screen rather than quietly dropped.
Is this crossword maker free?
Yes, completely. No signup, no email required, no watermarks, no limit on how many puzzles you generate, download, or print, and nothing hidden behind an upgrade. The answer key comes in the same PDF.
Where is the answer key?
Page two of every download, with every square filled in. You do not have to click anything or find a menu to see it — it prints with the puzzle. The answers are shown in blue so you can tell the two pages apart at a glance across a desk, and the key is laid out on exactly the same grid, so you can hold the two pages up together and every square lines up.
How do I write my own clues?
Put the answer first, then a colon, then the clue — one per line, like "HORSE: animal you ride with a saddle". A spaced dash works too. If you give a word with no clue at all it still gets one, stating how many letters it has, because a square with no clue is unsolvable and dropping the word is worse.
Why did some of my words not fit?
A crossword only works if every word crosses another one and every crossing agrees on its shared letter. A word that shares no letter with anything already placed has nowhere legal to go, and a long word may not fit inside the grid size you picked. Try a larger grid or a different arrangement first — the same list often packs completely on the second or third layout, because each one is built differently.
What is the word bank for?
It prints the answers in a box under the grid, so students match clues to a list they can see instead of recalling each word cold. It is the same puzzle either way — turning it on never changes the grid — so you can print an easier version for some of the class and the plain one for the rest.
Can I make a crossword from a spelling or vocabulary list?
That is what it is for. Paste your list, put a clue or a definition after each word, and print. Words are matched on letters only, so accents, spaces, hyphens and apostrophes are ignored — Piña becomes PINA and ice cream becomes ICECREAM — and duplicates are removed automatically.
Will I get the same crossword if I come back?
Yes. The same word list and the same settings always build the same grid, so you can print a class set today and another identical set next week, and a link you share gives the other person your exact puzzle. Change the arrangement setting and you get a genuinely different grid from the same words, not the same one reshuffled.
What grade level are crossword puzzles for?
Crosswords work from about second grade upward, once children can spell most of the words unaided — reading a clue and counting letters into squares is the point, so the answers should be words they know. For younger children use short answers with a word bank turned on, which turns it into a matching exercise instead of a recall one.
What paper size do these print on?
Choose US Letter (8.5 × 11 inches) or A4 (210 × 297 mm) and the grid and clue list are laid out to fit that sheet. Print at 100% scale on plain paper; the squares are drawn as thin outlines, so they print crisp even on draft quality and leave plenty of room to write a letter in each one.
Related worksheets
- Word search makerThe same idea with your own words — hidden in a letter grid.
- All free worksheetsEvery printable generator on the site in one place.
- Sight words worksheetsDolch and Fry lists — the words to build a puzzle from.
- 3rd grade worksheetsWhere crosswords usually start to be solvable unaided.
- 4th grade worksheetsVocabulary review, with the rest of the year alongside it.
- Handwriting practice sheetsTurn the same spelling list into tracing practice.
- Printable coloring pagesMazes and dot-to-dot line art for the same quiet half hour.
- Word searches in the classroomWhen a puzzle earns its place in a lesson, and when it does not.