Free Printable Christmas Word Search easy, medium or hard, with answer key
Print a holiday puzzle for a class party, a family evening or a senior center activity: pick a ready word list or type your own, choose the difficulty, and download the puzzle and its answer key in one PDF.
Make your Christmas word search
The classic Christmas list opens ready to print. Pick the kids, hard, nativity or winter list, change the difficulty or grid size, then print or download the puzzle with its answer key.
Template Library
Choose a Word Search Generator template to fill the title, word list, grid size, difficulty, and theme.
Medium adds forward diagonal words for regular classroom vocabulary practice.
Advanced Settings
Adjust paper size, theme, answer key pages, word placement, and export range before printing or downloading.
Words not placed
All valid words were placed in the grid.
Puzzle Preview
Answer Key Preview
Christmas word search: quick facts
Short answers for teachers, parents and activity coordinators.
- Price
- Free, with no paid tier or download fee
- Account
- Not required
- Watermark
- None
- Export formats
- PDF (puzzle and answer key in one file), PNG and direct print
- Paper sizes
- US Letter and A4
- Supported sizes
- Grids of 8×8, 10×10, 12×12, 15×15 and 20×20 on one full page
- Privacy
- Runs in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded
- Languages
- 8 languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Japanese, Korean
- Difficulty
- Easy: across and down only. Medium: adds diagonals. Hard: all 8 directions, including backwards
- Christmas word lists
- Kids (12 words), Classic (18), Hard for adults (30), Nativity (15) and non-religious Winter (15); all editable
- Answer key
- A second page with every word circled, or print the puzzle alone
- Christmas designs
- Red and green garland with holly, snowy blue, and an ink-saving black and white border
- New puzzle
- Regenerate as often as you like for a different grid with the same words
- Last updated
- October 15, 2026
Best for
- Teachers who need a quiet Christmas activity for early finishers or the last week before the break
- Parents and grandparents keeping kids busy on Christmas Eve or a long car ride
- Activity coordinators printing puzzles for seniors, with bigger grids and fewer words
Not the best fit for
- Playing on a phone or tablet: this makes printable puzzles, not an interactive game
- Puzzles that spell a hidden message with the leftover letters
- Word searches with picture clues instead of written words
How it compares
- Fixed PDF printables (blogs and puzzle sites)
- Often nicely illustrated and quick to grab, but the words and grid are fixed, and some ask for an email or show heavy ads. Here you can change any word and print a new grid every time.
- The Teacher's Corner and Puzzlemaker
- Long-standing word search makers with many options; they have no ready Christmas lists or Christmas borders, and some features or word counts need a premium plan. Here the Christmas lists, borders and answer key are free.
- Canva
- More freedom to design the page, but you need an account, and some elements are paid. This page gives you a print-ready puzzle and answer key in one click.
Why this Christmas word search works for every age
Three things most free holiday puzzle printables leave out.
Easy for kids, hard for adults
Easy puzzles hide 12 short words like Santa, star and sleigh across and down only, in a 12×12 grid that young readers can manage. Hard puzzles use a 20×20 grid with 30 words such as frankincense and poinsettia, running backwards and diagonally in all 8 directions.
Answer key in the same PDF
Every puzzle comes with a matching answer page that circles each word in the grid. Print the key for yourself, hand out only the puzzle, and check a whole class in seconds. You can also export the puzzle alone or the answer key alone.
Christmas borders that print cleanly
Pick a red and green garland with holly and ornaments, a snowy blue border, or a black and white version that saves ink and doubles as a coloring page. The border sits inside the page margins, so a home printer won't cut it off.
What's inside this Christmas word search maker
Five ready Christmas word lists, three Christmas borders, and every word stays editable.
Classic Christmas list
18 favorites in a 15×15 grid: Santa Claus, reindeer, mistletoe, gingerbread, jingle bells, North Pole and more.
Kids list
12 short words like elf, star, bell and cookie, across and down only, for kindergarten to grade 2.
Hard puzzle for adults
30 words in a 20×20 grid, backwards and diagonal, from wassail and yule log to stocking stuffer. Plan on 20–40 minutes.
Nativity list
Bethlehem, manger, shepherds, wise men, frankincense and myrrh, for Sunday school and church groups.
Non-religious winter list
Mittens, sled, igloo, hot cocoa and blizzard: a winter holiday word search for schools that skip Christmas words.
Your own words
Type your class names, family in-jokes or ESL vocabulary, one per line. Accents can be hidden in the grid.
How to make a Christmas word search
From this page to a printed holiday puzzle in about two minutes.
Choose a Christmas word list
The page opens with the Classic Christmas list. In the template list, switch to Kids, Hard, Nativity or Winter, or edit the words in the box, one word or short phrase per line. Spaces are removed in the grid, so Candy Cane becomes CANDYCANE.
- For ages 5–7, keep to 10–12 words of 3–6 letters.
- Adults enjoy 25–30 words with a few long ones.
Set the difficulty and grid size
Easy places words across and down only; Medium adds diagonals; Hard uses all 8 directions, backwards included. A 12×12 grid suits young kids, 15×15 most classes, and 20×20 adults. If a word does not fit, the tool tells you which one.
- For seniors, use Easy with a 10×10 grid so the letters print larger.
- Click Regenerate Layout for a new grid with the same words.
Pick a Christmas border and paper size
Open Advanced Settings and choose Christmas Garland, Snowy Blue Winter or the black and white ink saver. Letter is the default in the US and Canada, A4 everywhere else. Leave Include Answer Key on to get the key as page two.
- The black and white border can be colored in after the puzzle is done.
- Put the word list on the right for small grids to save space.
Download the PDF and print at 100%
Click Download PDF or Print. In the print dialog choose Actual size (100%), not Fit to page, so the letters stay square. Plain 20 lb (75 g/m²) copy paper is fine; slip a copy in a sheet protector to reuse it with a dry-erase marker.
- Make one master copy and photocopy it for the class.
- Nothing is uploaded; the PDF is made on your device.
Christmas word search FAQ
Answers for teachers, parents and activity coordinators.
Yes. There is no sign-up, no email gate, no watermark and no paid download. The puzzle is built in your browser and the PDF or PNG is saved straight to your device, so your word list is never uploaded. You can print as many copies as you need for a class, a church group or a family party.
Yes. With Include Answer Key on, the PDF has two pages: the puzzle and an answer key with every word circled in the grid. Under Export Pages you can also choose Puzzle Only (to hand out) or Answer Key Only (for the teacher).
Choose the Hard Christmas template, or set Difficulty to Hard and Grid Size to 20×20. Words then run in all 8 directions, including backwards and diagonally up, and letters can be shared between words. The ready list has 30 longer words such as poinsettia, frankincense and gingerbread house; most adults need 20–40 minutes.
For ages 5–7, use the Kids template: 12 short words in a 12×12 grid, placed only left to right and top to bottom. For ages 8–10, the Classic list with Medium difficulty adds diagonal words. Bigger kids and teens can try Hard.
Yes. Pick Easy, a 10×10 grid and about 10 words: the grid fills the page width, so each square is about 1.2 cm (half an inch) wide and the bold letters print at roughly 16 pt, a common large-print size. Easy keeps every word forwards, and the black and white border gives the clearest contrast.
Both. The Nativity list uses Bethlehem, manger, shepherds, angel, wise men, frankincense and myrrh for Sunday school or church groups. The Winter list (mittens, sled, igloo, hot cocoa, blizzard) has no Christmas or religious words, for schools that celebrate a general winter holiday.
Yes. Type one word or short phrase per line, such as student names or your family's traditions. Spaces and punctuation are removed in the grid, duplicates are dropped, and any word longer than the grid is listed so you can pick a bigger grid. Words in Spanish, French, German and other languages work too.
A good rule is about 10–12 words for a 12×12 grid, 15–20 for 15×15 and 25–30 for 20×20. More words make the grid denser and harder, because there are fewer random filler letters to look through.
Both. US Letter is the default in the US and Canada and A4 elsewhere; switch under Advanced Settings. Print at Actual size (100%) so the border stays inside the margins. Each puzzle and its answer key take one page each.
Print your Christmas word search now
Easy for kids, hard for adults, nativity or winter, with an answer key in the same PDF.
Free, no sign-up, no watermark, and nothing leaves your browser.
Need another theme? The same Word Search Generator makes animal, school, science and spelling word searches.