Sports word search: easy and standard printables
Choose eight sports hidden in a 10 × 10 grid, or fourteen in a 14 × 14 grid. The easy puzzle reads only left to right and top to bottom. The standard puzzle adds diagonals going downward, with no backward or upward words. Both have a word list to tick and a separate matching answer sheet.
Free, no email or account. Each download is one fixed page for pencil play, with no editable fields. A4 versions and separate answer keys are below.
Easy: eight sports, two directions
The smaller grid has larger, 18-point letters and eight sport names. Look right along a row or down a column. Choose it if you want fewer words and no diagonal searches.
Words to find: BOXING, GOLF, HOCKEY, JUDO, RUGBY, SKIING, SOCCER, TENNIS.
Show the easy answers and key preview
The shaded paths show all 8 answers. Rows count downward and columns count to the right, starting at 1 in the top-left corner. For example, R2 C4 means row 2, column 4.
- BOXING: row 9, column 2 to row 9, column 7.
- GOLF: row 4, column 5 to row 4, column 8.
- HOCKEY: row 5, column 8 to row 10, column 8.
- JUDO: row 6, column 3 to row 9, column 3.
- RUGBY: row 5, column 1 to row 9, column 1.
- SKIING: row 4, column 10 to row 9, column 10.
- SOCCER: row 5, column 2 to row 5, column 7.
- TENNIS: row 2, column 4 to row 2, column 9.
Standard: fourteen sports, including diagonals
The larger grid has 16-point letters and fourteen different sport names, including longer words such as BASKETBALL and VOLLEYBALL. Look right, down, diagonally down-right, or diagonally down-left. Some words share a letter where their paths cross.
Words to find: ARCHERY, BADMINTON, BASEBALL, BASKETBALL, CRICKET, CYCLING, FENCING, FOOTBALL, ROWING, SOFTBALL, SQUASH, SURFING, SWIMMING, VOLLEYBALL.
Show the standard answers and key preview
The shaded paths show all 14 answers. Rows count downward and columns count to the right, starting at 1 in the top-left corner. For example, R2 C4 means row 2, column 4.
- ARCHERY: row 4, column 5 to row 4, column 11.
- BADMINTON: row 5, column 1 to row 13, column 9.
- BASEBALL: row 7, column 10 to row 14, column 3.
- BASKETBALL: row 6, column 1 to row 6, column 10.
- CRICKET: row 7, column 8 to row 13, column 2.
- CYCLING: row 8, column 2 to row 14, column 8.
- FENCING: row 7, column 1 to row 13, column 1.
- FOOTBALL: row 1, column 12 to row 8, column 12.
- ROWING: row 1, column 5 to row 1, column 10.
- SOFTBALL: row 3, column 3 to row 10, column 10.
- SQUASH: row 1, column 14 to row 6, column 14.
- SURFING: row 8, column 11 to row 14, column 5.
- SWIMMING: row 2, column 1 to row 2, column 8.
- VOLLEYBALL: row 1, column 13 to row 10, column 13.
Print one puzzle, keep the key separate
Choose the PDF that matches your paper: US Letter is 8.5 × 11 inches; A4 is 210 × 297 millimeters. Print at Actual size or 100%, in portrait orientation. The dark letters, outlines and gray answer paths work in black and white. Check the preview in your print dialog before printing.
Give each solver a puzzle sheet and pencil. Circle a complete word when you find it, then tick that word in the list. Each listed sport appears once. All the words stay on a straight line; none wraps around an edge or changes direction halfway through.
To start, choose a word and scan for its first letter. On the easy sheet, look for the next letter to the right or directly below. On the standard sheet, also check the two diagonals below. Keep following that direction only while the letters match.
If you want a hint without revealing everything, ask someone with the key for the word’s starting row and column. On the easy sheet, TENNIS begins at row 2, column 4 and runs to column 9. The coordinates let you check one answer while keeping the rest hidden.
These are two fixed original puzzles, so downloading again gives you the same layouts. The printable previews are images; the PDFs are the full-size printing files. The sport names and answer coordinates are also written above for reference.
A found word, up close
More paper games
For two-player word guessing, try the hangman game sheets. For a question-and-answer round, choose the kid trivia questions. The printable library has more free games and family resources.
Published October 6, 2026.