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Space Hangman Words
Space hangman words covering planets, stars, orbits and astronomy. Play online with this list or print a sheet with an answer key for class.
Read the word list
Astronomy gives hangman some of its best words. The eight planets are all here, along with Pluto, now classed as a dwarf planet, plus the Sun, the Moon and the objects that cross the sky: comet, asteroid, meteor and galaxy. Players who know the solar system will solve the planets fast, while words like quasar, nebula and constellation need more thought.
The list also covers the equipment and the people, including telescope, rocket, astronaut and observatory. Short words such as star, moon and orbit suit younger students, and the longer ones, supernova, spacecraft and astronomer, give older players something to build on. A few unusual letters, like the z in zenith and the q in quasar, make good late-game guesses.
68 entries. Our solver needed 2.4 wrong guesses on average: 25 easy, 34 medium and 9 hard. The toughest is milky way (10 misses), the quickest asteroid (0).
- planet Medium · 3
- star Easy · 1
- moon Medium · 4
- sun Hard · 6
- comet Hard · 5
- asteroid Easy · 0
- meteor Easy · 0
- meteorite Easy · 0
- galaxy Hard · 5
- orbit Medium · 2
- gravity Medium · 3
- telescope Easy · 0
- astronaut Medium · 2
- rocket Medium · 2
- satellite Easy · 0
- shuttle Medium · 2
- capsule Medium · 2
- eclipse Medium · 3
- solstice Medium · 2
- equinox Easy · 1
- crater Easy · 0
- nebula Easy · 1
- supernova Easy · 1
- constellation Easy · 0
- universe Easy · 0
- cosmos Hard · 5
- mercury Medium · 3
- venus Medium · 4
- earth Easy · 0
- mars Medium · 4
- jupiter Easy · 1
- saturn Medium · 3
- uranus Medium · 4
- neptune Medium · 4
- pluto Medium · 3
- lunar Medium · 3
- solar Medium · 2
- stellar Easy · 0
- planetary Easy · 0
- vacuum Medium · 4
- launch Medium · 2
- countdown Medium · 3
- mission Easy · 1
- spacecraft Easy · 1
- spacewalk Medium · 2
- astronomer Easy · 1
- observatory Easy · 1
- zenith Medium · 2
- quasar Medium · 2
- pulsar Easy · 1
- sunspot Medium · 3
- aurora Medium · 3
- horizon Medium · 3
- rover Medium · 4
- black hole Hard · 5
- milky way Hard · 10
- solar system Easy · 1
- shooting star Easy · 1
- dwarf planet Medium · 2
- light year Medium · 3
- space station Hard · 5
- full moon Hard · 7
- new moon Hard · 6
- solar eclipse Easy · 0
- lunar eclipse Easy · 0
- north star Medium · 2
- outer space Medium · 3
- space suit Medium · 2
Words worth a closer look
- plutoReclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union. It is a good word for a quick science fact after the round.
- planetFrom the Greek planetes, meaning wanderer, because the planets move against the background of the stars. Six letters with two vowels, e and a.
- galaxyFrom the Greek word for milk, the same root as the Milky Way. Ends in y rather than i, a common spelling slip for young writers.
- astronautBuilt from Greek words meaning star and sailor. The a-s-t-r start is shared with astronomer and asteroid, so players often get the first half quickly.
- mercuryThe smallest planet and the closest to the Sun. Seven letters with a repeated r and a final y.
- jupiterThe largest planet in the solar system. The j start is rare, so it narrows quickly once the first letter appears.
- quasarA very bright, distant galactic core. It has q, and the vowels u, a, a fill half the word, so older students who like astronomy can solve it from the q.
- zenithThe point in the sky directly overhead. The z and the th ending are the rare letters that make it harder than its six letters suggest.
Using this list in class
Play this list at the start of a solar system unit in grades two to five, then bring it back at the end to see how much has stuck. A natural activity is to give each pair of students one planet to research and use the hangman round as the introduction. Pluto is a handy discussion point about how scientists update what they know.
Planetarium visits, moon phase tracking and star-gazing nights all give you a reason to use the list at home. Printing the sheet with the answer key lets families play without a screen on a night when the sky is clear.
Print a Space 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
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