Fall word search
Twelve autumn words are buried in this grid the way a squirrel buries acorns: methodically, and in places you will swear you already checked.
Curated by 
Esme Rook
·
Updated August 2026
Play it right here
Drag across the letters to select a word. Words hide across, down and diagonally, forwards and backwards. Works with mouse and touch.
What fell into this grid
Leaves, pumpkin, acorn, harvest, scarecrow, sweater, rake, maple, cider, squirrel, orange and breeze. SCARECROW is the nine letter anchor; find its double C. .. actually its C and W, and the rest unrolls. RAKE is four common letters and will hide until the very end, which is exactly what rakes do in real sheds.
Season it to taste
ORANGE here is the colour, but nobody will stop a solver who insists it is the fruit. A good table variation: everyone names one more fall word that is NOT in the grid, then checks the grid anyway. Half the fun of a word search is the words that almost appear.
Print it or play it
Play it on this page or print the free PDF; the solution sheet marks all twelve finds. The board, the PDF and the solution come from one generated puzzle, so they always match.
Frequently asked questions
Is the fall word search free to print?
Yes. The fall word search is free to print for classrooms, homeschools, libraries and family tables, in any quantity, with no attribution required and no account to create. Selling the PDF or re-uploading it to another site is not permitted, which is the short version of our licensing policy.
What age is the fall puzzle for?
Ages 6 to 10, or US grades 1 to 4. The 12x12 grid hides twelve autumn words from four letters (RAKE) up to nine (SCARECROW). It is an easy tier puzzle, so most primary children finish it without help once they have heard the word list.
Can we play the fall word search online?
Yes. The grid on this page is playable in the browser on any device, mouse or touchscreen, and words you find are struck off the list as you go. No printer and no install. The free printable PDF is still one click away if you want a paper copy for the pumpkin table.
Is there an answer key?
Yes. A separate solution PDF marks all twelve autumn words on the same grid, from the acorn to the scarecrow. Download it with the Solution button beside the puzzle. It is a separate sheet so the copies you print for children arrive with nothing given away.
Seven autumn word searches to print, one for each part of the season
Six extra boards, and none of them is a second copy of the one above: the trees themselves, the apple orchard, the weather, the first weeks of the school year, the sofa, and the colour chart that autumn is really famous for. The harvest is missing on purpose. It belongs to the Thanksgiving word search, whose whole meal is a harvest feast, so this page took the orchard instead. Two word terms run together: leaf pile is LEAFPILE, pumpkin patch is PUMPKINPATCH, school bus is SCHOOLBUS.
The 12x12 board on this page
The board above, printed: twelve autumn words with a nine letter scarecrow to anchor it and a four letter RAKE that hides until the end, which is exactly what rakes do in real sheds.
The trees: what the leaves fall off
The tree rather than the leaf, on a 12x12 board: the oak, the birch, the aspen, the sycamore, the bark, the canopy, the conkers underfoot and the nine letter word for the whole habit, deciduous.
The orchard: the Saturday out
A 13x13 board for the trip everybody makes in October: the pick your own sign, the ladder, the barrel, the hayride, the cider press, the windfalls and the caramel apple on the way out.
The weather: the month it turns
Thirteen rows of the exact fortnight the coat comes out: the drizzle, the mist, the overcast sky, the gusts, the damp, the nippy mornings, the shorter days and the first frost on the car.
Back to school: the other September
Autumn is a school year as much as a season, so it gets a 13x13 board: the backpack, the pencil case, the timetable, the locker, the lunchbox, the eraser and the shoes bought a size too big.
Indoors: the reason people like autumn
The half of autumn that happens on the sofa, in a 12x12 grid: the blanket, the wool socks, the slippers, the teapot, the stew, the bookshelf, the knitting and one lamp on in the corner.
The colours: twelve of them, not orange
Orange is already on the board above, so this 12x12 grid is everything else the trees do: russet, amber, ochre, crimson, scarlet, bronze, copper, goldenrod, burgundy, maroon and saffron.
