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Phrasal verbs Word Search

This phrasal verbs word search hides words like look for, give up, find out to find. Play it free online or print the PDF with the answer key, a handy phrasal verbs vocabulary activity.

10 words · 11×11 grid · Medium · Answer key included · Free printable PDF

School & Learning
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Tap the first and last letter of a word — or use arrow keys and Enter. Dragging works too.

  • THROWAWAY
  • BREAKDOWN
  • CALMDOWN
  • COMEBACK
  • SLOWDOWN
  • LOOKFOR
  • FINDOUT
  • CARRYON
  • STANDUP
  • GIVEUP
🎉 Solved — all 10 words found!

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Did you know?

look for
It means search, not gaze at. Swapping the particle changes the meaning entirely, a classic ESL trap.
give up
It can mean quit or surrender; the boxing idiom throw in the towel kept the same sense of stopping a fight.
find out
It means discover information; you cannot use it for a lost key, only for learning a fact, which puzzles learners.
throw away
It means discard, yet figuratively you can throw away a chance or a line, meaning to waste or say something casually.
break down
It carries many senses: a car stops working, a person weeps, talks collapse, or a total splits into smaller parts.
calm down
The particle down suggests lowering, matching how we picture a strong emotion cooling and settling toward a quieter, steadier state.
come back
As a noun a comeback is a return to success or a sharp retort; the verb simply means to return.
slow down
Doctors and coaches both offer it as friendly advice; its opposite, speed up, mirrors it with the same tidy pattern.
carry on
It means continue, but also to fuss or misbehave; wartime Britain made the phrase keep calm and carry on world famous.
stand up
It carries many senses: rise to your feet, support a cause, or fail to show for a planned date.
take off
This is the rare phrasal verb heard at airports: planes leave the ground, but so do careers and sales.
run away
It pairs motion with direction; cousins like run off and run out shift the meaning sharply with one small word.
cheer up
It can console another person or lift your own mood; the particle up here signals rising spirits, not direction.
work out
It covers exercise, solving a problem, and turning out well: three unrelated senses packed into one small pairing.
turn off
It pairs neatly as the opposite of its partner, yet it can also mean disgust someone, with no machine involved.

Trivia

  1. What is the term for a verb joined with a small word like up or off that changes its meaning?

    A phrasal verb.

  2. Roughly how many phrasal verbs does the Cambridge Phrasal Verbs Dictionary cover: about 600, 6,000, or 60,000?

    About 6,000.

  3. When a phrasal verb takes an object, where must a pronoun like it go: before the particle, after it, or either?

    Before the particle (turn it off, not turn off it).

  4. Who popularized the term phrasal verb in print, in his 1925 book Words and Idioms?

    Logan Pearsall Smith.

  5. The little word added to a verb, such as up in stand up, is called what in grammar?

    A particle.

Trivia · 1 / 5
What is the term for a verb joined with a small word like up or off that changes its meaning?
A phrasal verb.

In their words

Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.

Flora Lewis

One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.

Frank Smith

Is this phrasal verbs word search free to print?

This phrasal verbs word search is a free printable puzzle with 10 hidden words in an 11×11 grid. Find words like THROW AWAY, BREAK DOWN, CALM DOWN hidden across, down, and diagonally. You can play it right here in your browser — tap the first and last letter of a word — or download it as a printable PDF with the full answer key on page two. It's free for personal and classroom use, so teachers can print copies for a whole class with no sign-up and no account. Word searches like this one are a proven way to build vocabulary, spelling, and word-shape recognition, which is why they're a favourite with ESL learners, elementary classrooms, and anyone who likes a quiet puzzle with their coffee.

Print this Phrasal verbs word search
Printable Phrasal verbs Word Search — 10 words, Answer key included

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Sources: English phrasal verbs (Wikipedia) · OED: run, v. · 150 Most Common Phrasal Verbs (U of Minnesota) · Cambridge Phrasal Verbs Dictionary, 2nd ed.

Word list, facts & trivia researched and compiled by Sam Letterman — spotted a mistake? Tell us and we’ll fix it.