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Dinosaurs Word Search

Fair warning: this is the spelling-heavy one. STEGOSAURUS, TRICERATOPS, VELOCIRAPTOR, ANKYLOSAURUS — ten of the twenty words in this grid are the creatures themselves, joined by the fossils, claws and bones they left behind. Two of the famous names, PTERODACTYL and MOSASAURUS, were technically flying and swimming reptiles rather than true dinosaurs, which is exactly the kind of distinction a dinosaur-obsessed kid will happily explain to you at length.

That kid is who this sheet is for. Dinosaur kids routinely read words their teachers have to sound out, and a word search is a sneaky way to make them spell those words letter by letter instead of just shouting them. It also slots neatly into a paleontology unit, since HERBIVORE, CARNIVORE and EXTINCT come along for the ride.

The tip here: hunt the rare-letter words first. Only JURASSIC carries a J, and only TREX and EXTINCT carry an X, so scanning the grid for those two letters and testing each hit pins three answers down fast — and teaching a solver to chase rare letters first is teaching the strategy that cracks every word search after this one.

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The puzzle sheet

The answer key always prints as page two, whether or not it is showing on screen — keep it stapled behind or recycle it.

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Dinosaurs Word Search

15 x 15 · 20 words · find them across, down and diagonally

AKODEHTRCLAWSRG
TSERICECSETURHS
RVLXNPIRPBRAOIO
EUEISSLCBUONAUA
XTTLSTLOAISNRCL
MXRAOIESDUVREYL
EORISCOGROEOTSO
SUSSCLIUORCCRNS
JCOAYEAROSAUOEA
LFAKSSRVADATSRU
SLNLOAIAOPEUOOR
OATNENURTLTVRAU
TRIORSEREOEOOUS
OPAANTRKUGPARES
SACSPASRSSDSSEE
  • ALLOSAURUS
  • ANKYLOSAURUS
  • BONES
  • CARNIVORE
  • CLAWS
  • DIPLODOCUS
  • EXTINCT
  • FOSSIL
  • HERBIVORE
  • JURASSIC
  • MOSASAURUS
  • PTERODACTYL
  • ROAR
  • SCALES
  • SKELETON
  • SPINOSAURUS
  • STEGOSAURUS
  • TREX
  • TRICERATOPS
  • VELOCIRAPTOR

Free printable from duplixo.com/printables/ — answer key on the next page.

Paper & ink

Press Print / save as PDF above (or use your browser’s own print command) and only the sheet goes to the printer — no site header, no buttons. The puzzle prints on page one and the answer key on page two, whether or not the key is showing on screen. Letter and A4 paper both fit without changing any settings, and the sheet is designed for black-and-white printing, so a plain laser printer produces exactly what you see here. To keep a digital copy instead, choose “Save as PDF” as the destination in the print dialog.

This puzzle is free to print and share for personal and classroom use — run off thirty copies for the class without asking. It is not for resale, and a credit to duplixo.com is appreciated when you pass it along. No sign-up required.

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