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Math Hangman Words
Math hangman words for elementary and middle school: fractions, geometry, operations and data, with a printable sheet and answer key for the classroom.
Read the word list
The vocabulary of math is a good fit for hangman because so many of its terms are single words that students must spell and also understand. This list follows the order of a typical curriculum: number words such as digit and integer, operations such as quotient and remainder, fractions, geometry shapes and measurement, and the data terms median, mode and range.
Some entries are deliberately easy. Sum, area, mode and ratio are short and common. Others take real work. Parallelogram and perpendicular are long and repeat letters, trapezoid and rhombus use consonants that players guess late, and denominator is easy to misspell by swapping the o and the a. Because the phrases include place value, square root and order of operations, you can also play a round where every answer is a term students must be able to explain, not just spell.
72 entries. Our solver needed 1.9 wrong guesses on average: 35 easy, 31 medium and 6 hard. The toughest is sum (8 misses), the quickest denominator (0).
- numerator Easy · 1
- denominator Easy · 0
- fraction Easy · 1
- decimal Medium · 3
- percent Easy · 1
- perimeter Easy · 0
- area Easy · 1
- volume Medium · 2
- quotient Easy · 1
- product Medium · 3
- sum Hard · 8
- difference Easy · 0
- factor Medium · 3
- multiple Easy · 0
- prime Hard · 5
- integer Easy · 1
- equation Easy · 0
- variable Easy · 1
- expression Easy · 0
- exponent Easy · 0
- angle Medium · 2
- triangle Easy · 0
- rectangle Easy · 0
- square Medium · 2
- circle Easy · 1
- diameter Easy · 1
- radius Medium · 3
- circumference Easy · 0
- parallel Medium · 2
- perpendicular Easy · 0
- symmetry Medium · 2
- polygon Medium · 4
- hexagon Medium · 3
- octagon Medium · 2
- pentagon Easy · 1
- average Easy · 1
- median Medium · 2
- mode Hard · 5
- range Medium · 3
- graph Hard · 6
- ratio Medium · 3
- proportion Easy · 1
- remainder Easy · 0
- divisor Medium · 2
- dividend Hard · 5
- digit Medium · 3
- estimate Easy · 0
- slope Medium · 3
- coordinate Easy · 0
- axis Medium · 3
- vertex Medium · 3
- geometry Easy · 0
- algebra Easy · 0
- probability Medium · 2
- inequality Easy · 0
- rhombus Medium · 3
- trapezoid Easy · 0
- parallelogram Easy · 1
- sequence Easy · 0
- tally Medium · 3
- place value Hard · 5
- number line Medium · 4
- right angle Easy · 1
- order of operations Medium · 3
- common denominator Easy · 0
- square root Easy · 1
- greatest common factor Medium · 3
- word problem Medium · 4
- line of symmetry Medium · 2
- prime number Medium · 3
- mixed number Medium · 4
- whole number Medium · 3
Words worth a closer look
- quotientFrom the Latin quotiens, how many times. It is the answer to a division problem, and the qu is a pair players often forget to guess together.
- numeratorLinked to the Latin numerare, to count: it counts how many parts you have. Students regularly swap it with denominator, so ask which one sits on top after each round.
- hexagonThe Greek prefix hex means six, and the shape has six sides. Compare pentagon and octagon on this list, which use penta for five and octa for eight.
- circumferenceFrom Latin roots meaning to carry around. The cir, um, fer, ence pieces make a long word easy to spell once students split it into chunks.
- algebraThe word comes from the Arabic al-jabr, part of the title of a ninth century book on solving equations. With a twice and e once among its vowels, a and e tend to open the board.
- perpendicularThirteen letters in which p, e and r each appear twice. Many students write it with an a where the second e belongs, which is worth checking in the answer key.
- rhombusThe rh opening is rare in English, which is why this short word lasts longer in hangman than its length suggests.
- tallyA tally mark records one count at a time. The double l and the y make it a quick fill for younger players once they find the a.
Using this list in class
Use the list as a warm-up at the start of a geometry unit. Print the sheet and let pairs play with only the shape words: triangle, rectangle, polygon, hexagon, octagon, pentagon, rhombus, trapezoid and parallelogram. Then ask each pair to sketch the shapes they solved.
For fractions in fourth and fifth grade, play numerator, denominator, fraction, decimal and percent as one round, followed by the phrases common denominator and mixed number. Middle school classes can use the algebra terms: variable, expression, equation, inequality, slope and exponent. Each solved word can carry a quick oral definition, which turns the game into a low pressure review before a quiz.
Print a Math 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.
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