---
title: "Printable fill-in puzzles: free, with answers | Once Books"
description: "Free printable fill-in (Kriss-Kross) puzzles. Fit every word from the list into the crossword skeleton so the crossings agree, with one answer. Print with the answer."
source: "https://www.oncebooks.com/fill-in"
---

Free printables

# Free printable Fill-in with answers

A fill-in (also called Kriss-Kross) is a crossword with no clues: you are given the grid and a list of words, and you fit every word in so that the crossing letters agree. Every puzzle here fits exactly one way.

## By size

Size is what makes a fill-in harder: a bigger grid holds more words and more crossings to keep straight. Start small and work up.

- [Easy fill-in](https://www.oncebooks.com/fill-in/easy) — Free printable easy fill-in (Kriss-Kross) puzzles with answers. A small grid with a short word list, filled one way. No sign-up.
- [Medium fill-in](https://www.oncebooks.com/fill-in/medium) — Free printable medium fill-in puzzles with answers. An everyday grid and word list, filled one way. Print with the answer.
- [Hard fill-in](https://www.oncebooks.com/fill-in/hard) — Free printable hard fill-in puzzles with answers. A bigger grid with more words to place, filled one way. Print with the answer.
- [Large fill-in](https://www.oncebooks.com/fill-in/large) — Free printable large fill-in puzzles with answers. The biggest grid, for a long solve, with the answer on page two. No sign-up.

## By audience

A smaller grid with short, familiar words is the easiest way for a child or a beginner to start.

- [Fill-in puzzles for kids](https://www.oncebooks.com/fill-in/for-kids) — Free printable fill-in puzzles for kids with answers. Small grids and short, familiar words, filled one way. No sign-up.
- [Fill-in puzzles for beginners](https://www.oncebooks.com/fill-in/for-beginners) — Free printable fill-in puzzles for beginners with answers. Small grids to learn the knack, filled one way. Print with the answer.

## One answer, every time

What makes a fill-in book worth printing is the guarantee most sellers cannot make: that the word list fits the grid exactly one way. Every puzzle is generated by laying the words into a criss-cross skeleton and proving no other arrangement works. The filled grid prints as the answer key.

## How to solve a fill-in

Fit every word from the list into the grid so that all the crossings agree. There are no clues: the words and the shape are what you have.

### The method

1. Start with the rare lengths. Count how many slots and how many words there are of each length. A length with only one word has only one home, so place it first.
2. Work the crossings. Every white square where two slots meet must hold the same letter in both words, which rules most candidates out fast.
3. Cross words off as you go. Each word is used once. Strike it from the list when placed, so the remaining choices shrink.
4. Let one letter cascade. A placed word fixes letters in every slot it crosses, which often forces the next word, and the next.

**The one rule**

Every word from the list goes in once, and all crossings agree.

**What the answer page shows**

The fully filled grid is printed at the back.

**How the grades differ**

Bigger grids hold more words and more crossings to track.

**Good for**

Solvers who like a crossword without the trivia.

## Make one now

Pick a size, then print the skeleton with its word bank and the filled answer. No sign-up, no watermark.

[Open the fill-in generator](https://www.oncebooks.com/tools/fill-in-generator)[Make a whole book for KDP](https://www.oncebooks.com/kdp-fill-in-maker)