Deserts Word Search
Deserts get less than about ten inches of rain a year, which is why cold places like Antarctica count as deserts too. The words cover the land, the weather, and the animals built to handle both.
Deserts word search (Easy)
Find these 10 words
10 words, across and down only
- cactus
- camel
- dry
- dune
- heat
- lizard
- mirage
- oasis
- sand
- snake
Deserts word search (Medium)
Find these 15 words
15 words, adds diagonals
- cactus
- camel
- canyon
- coyote
- drought
- dry
- dune
- heat
- lizard
- mirage
- oasis
- sagebrush
- sand
- scorpion
- snake
Deserts word search (Hard)
Find these 20 words
20 words, any direction, backwards too
- cactus
- camel
- canyon
- coyote
- drought
- dry
- dune
- heat
- lizard
- mesa
- mirage
- oasis
- roadrunner
- sagebrush
- sand
- sandstorm
- scorpion
- snake
- tortoise
- vulture
Free to print. Press Print for a clean sheet with just the puzzle and the word list. Turn on Large print for bigger letters, or Show answers to print the answer key.
Words in the Deserts word search
Every word used across the three levels, with a quick note on what it means.
- sand
- Fine grains of worn rock covering many desert floors
- cactus
- A spiny plant that stores water inside its thick stem
- dry
- Having very little water, the main mark of a desert
- camel
- A humped animal that can travel far with little water
- dune
- A hill of sand shaped and moved by the wind
- heat
- High daytime temperature common in hot deserts
- oasis
- A green spot in the desert where water reaches the surface
- lizard
- A scaly reptile that warms itself on sunny rocks
- snake
- A legless reptile that hunts in cool desert evenings
- mirage
- A trick of the eye where hot air looks like water
- scorpion
- A small arachnid with pincers and a stinging tail
- coyote
- A wild dog that hunts across deserts and open country
- sagebrush
- A grey-green shrub common in dry western basins
- drought
- A long stretch with far less rain than usual
- canyon
- A deep valley with steep walls cut by water
- mesa
- A flat-topped hill with steep sides, common in the Southwest
- tortoise
- A slow land turtle that shelters in a burrow
- sandstorm
- Strong wind lifting sand into a thick blinding cloud
- vulture
- A bird that circles high and feeds on dead animals
- roadrunner
- A fast ground bird of the American Southwest
More nature and weather word searches
sand · wave · shell · surf · tide
tent · fire · map · lantern · hike
rain · sky · white · fluffy · fog
nature · water · save · forest · wildlife
coral · fish · ocean · shark · eel
shake · ground · crack · fault · damage
rose · tulip · daisy · lily · poppy
tree · leaf · oak · bark · pine
seed · soil · water · plant · flower
ruby · pearl · jade · opal · amber
mint · basil · sage · dill · thyme
trail · boots · map · path · water