About this puzzle
Most of the words here are parts you could point to on a real car: the engine and radiator under the hood, the wipers and headlights up front, the dashboard and gearshift inside. The rest are about driving itself, like signaling a turn and squeezing into a parallel parking spot, plus a few famous body styles, including the Model T that put America on wheels.
This car word search suits kids who love anything with an engine, new drivers studying for a permit test, and grandparents who remember the family road trips of long ago. It makes a good screen-free activity for the back seat on a road trip, and teachers can pair it with a lesson on simple machines or transportation history.
The 33 words in this puzzle
Every word, with a short note. Handy for teaching the vocabulary before or after solving.
In every version (12)
- Brakes
- Most modern cars use disc brakes, where pads squeeze a spinning metal rotor. Brake fluid carries the push from your foot to every wheel.
- Driver
- The person who controls the car. In most states, teens can get a learner's permit at 15 or 16 and must pass written and road tests for a license.
- Engine
- The machine that powers the car. In most gas engines, tiny explosions of fuel and air push pistons up and down, and that motion turns the wheels.
- Headlights
- The lamps that light the road at night. High beams shine farther, but drivers switch to low beams when another car approaches so they don't blind it.
- Hood
- The metal cover over the engine at the front of most cars, called the bonnet in Britain. Lifting it lets you check the oil and other fluids.
- Horn
- Used to warn other drivers and people walking nearby. Most states require every car to have a working horn.
- Mirror
- Cars have a rearview mirror inside and two side mirrors. The curved passenger-side mirror shows a wider view, so cars in it look farther away than they really are.
- Seat Belt
- The strap that holds you safely in your seat. Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin designed the modern three-point seat belt in 1959, and Volvo shared the design freely.
- Tire
- The rubber ring that grips the road. The recommended air pressure, measured in PSI, is usually printed on a sticker inside the driver's door frame.
- Trunk
- The storage space at the back of a car, called the boot in Britain. Early cars often carried an actual luggage trunk strapped to the back.
- Wheel
- Each wheel holds a tire and spins on an axle. Turning the steering wheel inside the car points the front wheels so the car can change direction.
- Wipers
- The arms that sweep rain off the windshield. Mary Anderson received a patent for a hand-operated windshield wiper in 1903.
Added in Medium and Hard (8)
- Bumper
- The bar across the front and back of a car that absorbs small bumps. Older cars used shiny chrome steel, while most new ones use plastic covers over a strong frame.
- Cup Holder
- A small feature drivers care about a lot. Built-in cup holders spread through American cars in the 1980s and are now found in nearly every new car.
- Dashboard
- The panel of gauges in front of the driver. The name comes from horse-drawn carriages, where a board stopped mud dashed up by the horses' hooves.
- Gas Tank
- Holds the fuel for the engine. On many dashboards, a small arrow next to the fuel gauge points to the side of the car where the gas cap is.
- Minivan
- A tall family vehicle with sliding doors and three rows of seats. Chrysler's Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager made the minivan popular in 1984.
- Road Trip
- A long drive taken for fun. Route 66, opened in 1926, ran from Chicago to Santa Monica and became America's most famous road trip route.
- Turn Signal
- The blinking lights that tell other drivers you plan to turn or change lanes. Buick offered flashing electric turn signals as early as 1939.
- Windshield
- The front window, made of laminated safety glass with a thin plastic layer between two sheets of glass, so it cracks instead of shattering.
Added in Hard (13)
- Airbag
- Airbags fill with gas in a split second during a crash to cushion the people inside. Safety experts say children 12 and under should ride in the back seat.
- Battery
- A car battery powers the starter and the lights when the engine is off. Most gas cars use a 12-volt battery, while electric cars run on large battery packs.
- Convertible
- A car with a roof that folds down or comes off, letting riders enjoy open-air driving on sunny days.
- Gearshift
- The lever or dial used to choose gears. Automatic cars usually show P, R, N, and D for Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Drive.
- Hybrid
- A hybrid car uses both a gas engine and an electric motor. The Toyota Prius, first sold in Japan in 1997, was the first mass-produced hybrid car.
- Ignition
- The system that starts the engine, with a key or a push button. Spark plugs then light the fuel and air inside each cylinder.
- License Plate
- New York began requiring license plates in 1901, and early owners made their own, often showing just their initials. Today every state issues its own plates.
- Model T
- Ford's affordable car, introduced in 1908. Built on a moving assembly line starting in 1913, it made car ownership possible for millions of families.
- Muffler
- Part of the exhaust system that quiets the loud bangs of the engine, using chambers and tubes to soften the sound waves.
- Odometer
- The gauge that counts how many miles a car has traveled in its lifetime. A separate trip odometer can be reset to measure a single journey.
- Parallel Park
- To park alongside the curb in a space between two cars, usually by backing in. It is part of the driving test in many states.
- Radiator
- Keeps the engine from overheating. Hot coolant flows through thin tubes and fins at the front of the car, where passing air carries the heat away.
- Speedometer
- The gauge that shows how fast the car is going. In the United States it reads in miles per hour, often with kilometers per hour in smaller numbers.
A few facts to share while you solve
- Karl Benz patented his three-wheeled Motorwagen in 1886, and it is widely considered the first practical gasoline-powered automobile.
- In 1888 Bertha Benz drove the Motorwagen about 65 miles from Mannheim to Pforzheim in Germany, the first long-distance car trip. She stopped at a pharmacy to buy fuel.
- Drivers in the United Kingdom, Japan, and Australia drive on the left side of the road, so their steering wheels sit on the right side of the car.
Four versions of this puzzle
Pick a version with the buttons above the grid. Each one has its own grid and answer key, and your progress on each is saved separately in this browser.
| Version | Words | Grid | Directions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Easy | 12 | 11 × 11 | The 12 most familiar words, reading forward across and down. |
| Medium | 20 | 15 × 15 | Twenty words across, down and diagonally. No backwards words. |
| Hard | 33 | 18 × 18 | Every word, in all eight directions including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. |
| Large print | 12 | 10 × 10 | The 12 most familiar words on a small grid with big letters. No backwards words. |
Hard and large print versions
Hard car word search: all 33 words on a 18 × 18 grid, hidden forward, backward, up, down and along both diagonals, with filler letters borrowed from the word list. Print it without the word list for an extra challenge. Play the hard version, or see all hard word searches.
Large print car word search: the 12 most familiar words on a 10 × 10 grid, printed with big letters and a big word list, and no backwards words. Play the large print version, or see all large print word searches.
Printing this word search
Press Print / PDF above the puzzle. You get a clean one-page sheet with the title, the grid, a word list with tick boxes, and optional name and date lines. The answer key prints on a second page. Prefer a file? Download it as a PDF or an image to print later or drop into a worksheet. Whatever version is showing on screen is the one that prints, and the large print version prints with bigger letters.
How to play online
- Find a word from the list in the grid. Scanning for its first letter is the quickest way.
- Drag across the word from its first letter to its last. On a phone, you can also tap the first letter, then the last.
- Found words get highlighted and crossed off. Stuck? Hint circles the first letter of a word you haven’t found.
Read the full guide to solving word searches, with tips that make big grids much faster.
Questions and answers
What age is the car word search good for?
It works for kids around seven and up on easy mode, and the medium and hard levels challenge teens and adults. Car-loving kids enjoy matching words like Muffler and Radiator to real parts, and the notes explain what each one does in plain language.
Can I use this car word search on a road trip?
Yes. Print a few copies before you leave and keep them on a clipboard in the back seat. Kids can also look for real examples as they ride, like spotting a convertible, a minivan, or someone using a turn signal.
Is it helpful for new drivers?
It is a light way to review terms from a driver's education class, including the gearshift, turn signal, seat belt, and parallel parking. It is not a substitute for your state's driver's manual, but it makes a good warm-up before studying.
Is there an answer key for this car word search?
Yes. Choose Print / PDF above the puzzle and keep “Add an answer key page” ticked. The key prints on its own page, with every word highlighted. While playing online, Show answers outlines any words you haven’t found yet.
Can I print copies for my class or group?
Yes. Every puzzle on BetterWordSearch is free to print for personal, classroom, library and homeschool use. Print as many copies as you need. To change the words or make several different versions of the grid, use the word search maker.
What changes between Easy, Medium, Hard and Large print?
Easy hides the 12 most familiar words, reading left to right and top to bottom. Medium uses 20 words and adds diagonals. Hard hides all 33 words in every direction, including backwards, with look-alike filler letters. Large print uses the same words as Easy on a small grid and prints with big letters.
