World and history · hangman category
History Hangman Words
Hangman words about history: documents, inventions, explorers and eras from the Pilgrims to the printing press. Play online or print with an answer key.
Read the word list
This list gathers the vocabulary of a school history course: the people who settled and explored, the documents that set up governments, the inventions that changed daily life and the terms historians use to describe time. It leaves out battles and conflict on purpose, so the words are about what people built, wrote and discovered.
Pilgrim, colony and frontier give younger players a start, since each has a familiar shape. Constitution, amendment, suffrage and abolition are longer and carry the vocabulary of civics classes. Archaeology is the hardest to spell, because of the ae pair at the start and the ch that sounds like k. The phrases include events and places most American students meet by sixth grade, such as the Boston Tea Party, the Gold Rush and the Underground Railroad.
74 entries. Our solver needed 1.8 wrong guesses on average: 38 easy, 32 medium and 4 hard. The toughest is bill of rights (7 misses), the quickest settler (0).
- pilgrim Medium · 2
- colony Medium · 3
- colonist Medium · 2
- settler Easy · 0
- explorer Medium · 2
- pioneer Easy · 0
- frontier Medium · 2
- voyage Medium · 4
- expedition Easy · 0
- harbor Medium · 2
- immigrant Easy · 1
- railroad Medium · 2
- telegraph Easy · 1
- steamboat Medium · 2
- factory Medium · 3
- industry Easy · 1
- constitution Easy · 0
- amendment Easy · 1
- congress Easy · 0
- senate Medium · 3
- president Easy · 1
- election Easy · 1
- citizen Medium · 3
- liberty Medium · 3
- democracy Easy · 1
- republic Easy · 1
- independence Easy · 0
- declaration Easy · 0
- document Medium · 2
- treaty Easy · 1
- empire Medium · 4
- kingdom Medium · 3
- dynasty Medium · 3
- monarch Medium · 3
- emperor Easy · 1
- castle Medium · 2
- feudal Medium · 2
- medieval Easy · 1
- ancient Easy · 1
- renaissance Easy · 0
- printing Medium · 3
- parchment Easy · 1
- manuscript Easy · 1
- scroll Medium · 4
- artifact Easy · 1
- museum Easy · 1
- archaeology Easy · 1
- historian Easy · 1
- civilization Easy · 0
- heritage Easy · 0
- monument Easy · 1
- cathedral Easy · 0
- timeline Easy · 0
- century Medium · 3
- decade Hard · 6
- abolition Easy · 1
- suffrage Medium · 2
- mayflower Easy · 1
- bill of rights Hard · 7
- boston tea party Medium · 2
- declaration of independence Medium · 4
- industrial revolution Easy · 0
- silk road Medium · 3
- middle ages Medium · 2
- stone age Hard · 5
- bronze age Medium · 2
- iron age Easy · 0
- gold rush Hard · 7
- underground railroad Easy · 0
- civil rights Medium · 4
- printing press Easy · 1
- louisiana purchase Easy · 0
- lewis and clark Medium · 2
- liberty bell Medium · 3
Words worth a closer look
- mayflowerThe ship that carried the Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620. Nine letters with only a, o and e as vowels, so it fills in slowly and a lucky first guess matters.
- renaissanceFrom the French word for rebirth, describing the revival of art and learning in Europe after the Middle Ages. The double s in the middle and the final ce are the classic spelling traps.
- constitutionThe United States Constitution was signed in Philadelphia in 1787. A long word with the t, i and o repeating, which makes it easy to partly fill early.
- telegraphSamuel Morse sent the first long-distance message by telegraph in 1844. The e appears twice among nine letters, and the ph sound is a common spelling slip.
- archaeologyFrom the Greek word archaios, meaning ancient. The ae pair at the start is its famous spelling hurdle; some dictionaries also accept the shorter spelling archeology.
- gold rushBegan in California in 1848 after gold was found at Sutter's Mill. Short words make this phrase a friendly one for younger players.
- bill of rightsThe first ten amendments to the Constitution, added in 1791. The short word of in the middle gives away a lot of letters early.
- suffrageThe right to vote. The double f is the usual stumbling block, and many players only learn the word through the story of women's suffrage.
Using this list in class
This list supports a standard American history sequence. For a unit on early settlement, pull pilgrim, colony, voyage, harbor and mayflower and play them as a review before a quiz. For a civics unit, use constitution, amendment, congress, senate and suffrage, and have students explain each word in a sentence after they guess it.
The phrases suit fifth and sixth grade. After a round, ask students to put three of the events in order on a class timeline. The era names, such as stone age, bronze age and iron age, are a good set for teaching sequence in younger grades.
Print a History Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- Ancient Egypt Hangman WordsPharaohs, pyramids, gods and the Nile as hangman words, from sphinx to hieroglyph. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key for ancient history.
- Ancient Rome Hangman WordsHangman words from ancient Rome: emperors, buildings, roads and daily life, from toga to aqueduct. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key.
- Presidents' Day Hangman WordsPresidents' Day hangman words with US presidents' surnames, civic terms and history vocabulary. Play online or print a free classroom sheet with answers.
- US States Hangman WordsAll fifty US state names as hangman words, from Ohio to Massachusetts. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key for geography lessons.
- Greek Mythology Hangman WordsGods, heroes, monsters and places from Greek myth as hangman words, from Zeus to the labyrinth. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key.
- Countries Hangman WordsHangman words from current UN member countries, from short names like Peru to long ones like Kazakhstan. Play online or print a sheet with an answer key.