What do you call the long pole a Venetian gondolier uses to push the boat along?

An oar (the gondolier uses a single oar and rowlock).

What does the simple machine on a bicycle, the wheel paired with a turning bar, let your legs do more easily?

Travel far using little effort (the wheel and axle).

Sports & Play

Transportation Word Search

This transportation word search hides words like car, train, airplane to find. Play it free online or print the PDF with the answer key, a handy transportation vocabulary activity.

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

Sports & Play

Show / hide answers

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

STEAMSHIP
AMBULANCE
SUBMARINE
AIRPLANE
SCOOTER
TROLLEY
BALLOON
GONDOLA
TRAIN
CAR

🎉 Solved — all 10 words found!

True stories

Won by eight seconds

Paris, France

On the final day of the 1989 Tour de France, in Paris, American cyclist Greg LeMond trailed the leader by 50 seconds with only a short time trial left. Most thought the race was decided. But LeMond crouched low over special handlebars that cut through the wind, a new idea many rivals had dismissed. Streamlined and pedaling furiously, he covered the streets faster than anyone expected. When the clocks stopped, he had erased the gap and won the entire three-week race by just eight seconds, the closest finish in its history. It was a lesson that a clever bicycle, and a refusal to quit, can beat the odds.

The elephant that flew

Wuppertal, Germany

In 1950, in Wuppertal, Germany, a young circus elephant named Tuffi was loaded onto the city's Schwebebahn, a strange railway whose cars hang from a rail high above a river. It was meant as a publicity stunt. But partway along the route Tuffi panicked, charged through the side of the swaying car, and tumbled nearly 40 feet down into the River Wupper below. Crowds gasped, certain she was lost. Astonishingly, Tuffi swam to the bank with only minor scrapes and lived many more years. The hanging railway still runs today, and the little elephant who fell from it remains the city's most beloved mascot.

Print this Transportation word search

Did you know?

car: The world's first speeding fine came in 1896, when a British driver was caught racing at 8 miles per hour.
train: Japan's experimental maglev trains float above the track on magnets, and one reached 375 miles per hour in tests.
airplane: In an airliner strength test, wings bent upward about twenty-five feet, flexing far more than passengers might expect from something so huge.
scooter: Postal messengers used stand-up gasoline scooters around 1916, delivering letters decades before rechargeable scooters became a familiar sight on modern city streets.
steamship: Early steamships sometimes kept their sails, letting a vessel use wind when coal ran short or its engine failed.
trolley: A Brussels trolley became a restaurant on rails, serving passengers elaborate meals while traveling through the city instead of simply carrying commuters.
balloon: The first passengers in a public hot-air-balloon demonstration were a sheep, a duck, and a rooster, launched in France in 1783.
gondola: Venetian gondolas are painted black by law and built slightly lopsided, so a single standing oarsman can steer them straight.
ambulance: The word 'ambulance' is often printed reversed on the hood so drivers ahead can read it correctly in their mirrors.
submarine: The submarine Nautilus passed beneath the North Pole in 1958, reaching the top of the world through water hidden under Arctic ice.
helicopter: A helicopter can keep descending after engine failure by letting rushing air turn its rotor, a technique called autorotation.
motorcycle: An early gasoline motorcycle had a wooden frame and extra support wheels, looking more like a curious bicycle than a racer.
skateboard: Early skateboards were built by nailing roller-skate wheels onto wooden boards, which is why they were once called sidewalk surfing.

Trivia

What is the name of the famous geography exam that London taxi drivers must pass before getting a license?
The Knowledge.
Which country invented the high-speed bullet train, opening its first line for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics?
Japan (the Shinkansen).
What do you call the long pole a Venetian gondolier uses to push the boat along?
An oar (the gondolier uses a single oar and rowlock).
In which year did the Wright brothers make the first powered airplane flight: 1879, 1903, or 1927?
1903.
What does the simple machine on a bicycle, the wheel paired with a turning bar, let your legs do more easily?
Travel far using little effort (the wheel and axle).

Trivia · 1 / 5

What is the name of the famous geography exam that London taxi drivers must pass before getting a license?

The Knowledge.

In their words

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.
Albert Einstein

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
Neil Armstrong

Is this transportation word search free to print?

This transportation word search is a free printable puzzle with 10 hidden words in an 11×11 grid. Find words like STEAMSHIP, AMBULANCE, SUBMARINE 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 Transportation word search