Christmas Word Scramble With Answers: 3 Difficulty Levels, 30 Different Sheets for One Class
Here is a printable Christmas word scramble with answers that you can make three ways from one list. Easy keeps the first and last letters of every word in place, Medium keeps the first letter, and Hard lets every letter move. Print up to 30 numbered sheets with different scrambles, and an answer key grouped by sheet number. There is also a winter list with no Christmas words, for classes that celebrate the season rather than the holiday.
Open the Christmas list (Medium, 30 sheets) Open the winter list
The 24-word Christmas list
Each word has a short clue printed under its scramble, which turns the sheet from letter-shuffling into a vocabulary check. Untick Clues under each word for a plain scramble. Two-word entries such as candy cane and North Pole stay two words: letters only move inside their own word.
| # | Word | Clue printed under it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | REINDEER | Has antlers and pulls Santa through the sky |
| 2 | SLEIGH | Santa's ride across the night sky |
| 3 | STOCKING | Hung up to be filled with small gifts |
| 4 | ORNAMENT | Hangs on a branch of the tree |
| 5 | TINSEL | Shiny strands on the tree |
| 6 | WREATH | A ring of greenery on the door |
| 7 | CANDY CANE | A striped sweet with a hook |
| 8 | GINGERBREAD | A spiced cookie shaped like a person |
| 9 | MISTLETOE | A plant hung over a doorway |
| 10 | CAROLS | Songs sung from door to door |
| 11 | PRESENTS | Wrapped gifts under the tree |
| 12 | CHIMNEY | Santa comes down it |
| 13 | ELVES | Santa's helpers in the workshop |
| 14 | NORTH POLE | Where Santa lives |
| 15 | SNOWMAN | Built from three big snowballs |
| 16 | ANGEL | Can sit at the top of the tree |
| 17 | BELLS | They jingle |
| 18 | HOLLY | Prickly leaves with red berries |
| 19 | NUTCRACKER | A wooden soldier with strong jaws |
| 20 | CHRISTMAS EVE | December 24, after dark |
| 21 | MANGER | A feeding box used as a bed in the Nativity story |
| 22 | EGGNOG | A creamy holiday drink |
| 23 | POINSETTIA | A plant with bright red leaves |
| 24 | WRAPPING PAPER | Covers a gift before it goes under the tree |
What actually changes between Easy, Medium and Hard
The levels decide which letters are allowed to move. The table shows what sheet 1 prints for four words at each level, and how many other orders of the letters that level allows. The count is plain arithmetic: the movable letters can be arranged n! ways, divided for repeated letters, minus the real spelling.
| Word | Easy: sheet 1 | Easy: other orders | Medium: sheet 1 | Medium: other orders | Hard: sheet 1 | Hard: other orders |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| REINDEER | REDIENER | 119 | RREDNEIE | 839 | EDNRERIE | 3,359 |
| SLEIGH | SGIELH | 23 | SGIHLE | 119 | LSIHGE | 719 |
| ELVES | EVELS | 5 | ESEVL | 23 | LEESV | 59 |
| CANDY CANE | CDANY CNAE | 11 | CYNAD CNEA | 143 | NCDYA ENAC | 2,879 |
Other orders is how many orders the level allows besides the real spelling. The maker picks one of them per sheet with a fixed rule, so a set of sheets shows fewer than that.
Two things follow from the numbers. First, short words have very few scrambles on Easy: ELVES keeps an E at each end, which leaves only L, V and E to move, so it has 5 other orders (3! − 1). Second, the jump between levels is large: SLEIGH goes from 23 other orders on Easy to 719 on Hard, and on Hard the first letter is no longer given away. For a mixed class we suggest Medium, so every student has a letter to start from.
One class, 30 different sheets
When everyone gets the same sheet, the fastest student's answers travel along the row. Set Different sheets to the size of your class, up to 30 (for a bigger group, set Sheet number to 31 and print a second set). Every sheet uses the same words in the same order and prints its number in the corner, but most words are scrambled differently from sheet to sheet. Not all of them: a short word has only a few orders, so on 30 Medium sheets BELLS and HOLLY print the same on every sheet. With all 24 words and clues, 30 sheets come to 60 student pages and 11 answer-key pages on A4 (60 + 12 on US Letter). Switching the clues off does not save paper here: each sheet still takes 2 pages. The answer key lists every sheet's scrambles in grey next to the answers, so you can mark sheet 17 without hunting for it.
The winter list (no Christmas words)
If your class marks the season rather than the holiday, this list keeps to snow, cold and winter animals. It works with the same levels and sheet counts. The Christmas list includes two religious entries, MANGER and ANGEL; delete them in the word box if you want the Christmas list without them.
| # | Word | Clue printed under it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SNOWFLAKE | Six-sided and never quite the same |
| 2 | BLIZZARD | A snowstorm with strong winds |
| 3 | ICICLE | A spike of ice hanging from a roof |
| 4 | MITTENS | Gloves without separate fingers |
| 5 | SCARF | Wrapped around your neck |
| 6 | SLED | Ride it down a snowy hill |
| 7 | SKATES | Shoes with blades for the ice |
| 8 | HOT COCOA | A warm chocolate drink |
| 9 | IGLOO | A shelter built from snow blocks |
| 10 | PENGUIN | A bird that swims but cannot fly |
| 11 | POLAR BEAR | A white hunter of the Arctic ice |
| 12 | FROST | Ice crystals on the grass in the morning |
| 13 | SNOWBALL | Round, cold and thrown |
| 14 | EARMUFFS | Keep your ears warm |
| 15 | HIBERNATE | Sleep through the cold months |
| 16 | SNOWPLOW | A big truck with a blade that clears the roads |
| 17 | SHOVEL | Used to dig out the path |
| 18 | CHILLY | Cold enough for a sweater |
| 19 | FREEZING | Cold enough to turn water to ice |
| 20 | WINTER SOLSTICE | The day with the least daylight |
| 21 | PINE CONE | Falls from an evergreen tree |
| 22 | WOOL HAT | Pulled down over your ears |
| 23 | SNOW BOOTS | Warm, waterproof footwear |
| 24 | FIREWOOD | Logs stacked for the stove |
Next steps
- The same Christmas words as a crossword: Christmas crossword (clues become the Across and Down clues).
- Sentences instead of single words: the sentence scramble maker.
- For a class party, a hunt around the room: Christmas scavenger hunt clues on Hunt Cards.
More guides
- Baby shower word scramble — 40 baby words split into short and long lists, the arithmetic of why short words need a harder level, and numbered sheets against copying.
- Bridal shower word scramble — A 20-word bridal shower list and a 20-word wedding list, how phrases keep their word breaks, and adding the couple's own words.
- Ways to practice spelling words — Eight spelling practice methods ranked by prep time and independence, mapped to Common Core L.2.2, and three printable sheets from one weekly list.
- Valentine’s Day word scramble — A 20-word class-party list with no romance, a 20-word couples list, which level suits which age, and a different numbered sheet for every child.
- Printable word scrambles with answers — All 19 ready lists in one table, checked word by word against a 25,322-word list of common English: how many words have a second answer at each level, and three fixes.