Holidays and seasons · hangman category
Thanksgiving Hangman Words
Thanksgiving hangman words covering the feast, the harvest, family traditions and early American history, from short table words to long, tricky ones.
Read the word list
A Thanksgiving word list has to cover three different areas: what is on the table, what is in the fields and what happened at Plymouth. Mixing them keeps a round from feeling like a menu. Short words such as pie, corn and gravy are quick wins for younger players, while cornucopia, mayflower and casserole ask for rarer letters and more patience.
Most of the hard words here are hard for one of two reasons. Some are long with a lot of repeated letters, such as gratitude and leftovers. Others lean on unusual consonants, such as the two c's in cornucopia or the y and w in mayflower. The phrases, including pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce, work well on a whiteboard because the gap between words shows the shape of the answer from the first guess.
67 entries. Our solver needed 2.4 wrong guesses on average: 26 easy, 29 medium and 12 hard. The toughest is gravy (7 misses), the quickest settlers (0).
- turkey Medium · 4
- pilgrim Medium · 2
- harvest Easy · 1
- cranberry Medium · 2
- pumpkin Medium · 3
- gravy Hard · 7
- stuffing Medium · 4
- feast Easy · 1
- thankful Medium · 3
- gratitude Easy · 1
- autumn Medium · 3
- pie Hard · 5
- corn Hard · 5
- squash Medium · 4
- cornucopia Easy · 1
- mayflower Easy · 1
- plymouth Medium · 3
- colony Medium · 3
- settlers Easy · 0
- drumstick Medium · 2
- casserole Easy · 1
- parade Easy · 1
- football Medium · 3
- family Hard · 6
- blessing Easy · 1
- grateful Easy · 1
- appetizer Easy · 1
- dessert Easy · 0
- leftovers Easy · 0
- sweet Easy · 1
- potato Medium · 4
- yams Hard · 5
- biscuits Medium · 2
- rolls Medium · 2
- cider Hard · 6
- apple Medium · 3
- pecan Hard · 5
- orchard Medium · 3
- scarecrow Easy · 0
- thanks Medium · 3
- tradition Easy · 1
- gathering Easy · 0
- november Medium · 2
- dinner Medium · 3
- table Easy · 0
- napkin Easy · 1
- platter Medium · 2
- carving Hard · 5
- roast Easy · 1
- bounty Hard · 5
- gobble Hard · 5
- hearth Medium · 2
- wishbone Easy · 1
- potluck Medium · 3
- wampanoag Medium · 2
- pumpkin pie Hard · 5
- cranberry sauce Easy · 1
- mashed potatoes Medium · 2
- thanksgiving dinner Easy · 0
- thanksgiving parade Easy · 0
- horn of plenty Hard · 6
- giving thanks Medium · 3
- harvest moon Medium · 2
- turkey trot Medium · 3
- family gathering Easy · 1
- fourth thursday Medium · 2
- dinner table Easy · 1
Words worth a closer look
- cornucopiaFrom the Latin cornu copiae, meaning horn of plenty. It has two o's, two c's and a long run of consonants, so it is a good late-round word for confident players.
- gravyFive letters with a as the only true vowel and y doing the rest. Players who open with e, i and o get nothing back, so it plays harder than it looks.
- mayflowerThe ship that carried the Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1620. Worth a minute after the round to ask who knows where Plymouth is.
- squashThe word comes from a Narragansett term, askutasquash, which English settlers shortened. It is a handy example of a food word borrowed from a Native American language.
- gratitudeBuilt on the Latin gratus, meaning pleasing or thankful. The three t's and the ude ending make it a steady mid-level word.
- leftoversThree vowels spread across nine letters, so a vowel-first player gets reveals early. The tricky letters are v and l, which people tend to guess last.
- wishboneThe forked bone from a roasted bird, pulled apart by two people in a long-running table tradition. The vowels i, o and e fall early, while w and h tend to stay hidden.
- plymouthThe Pilgrims named their settlement after the English port they sailed from, so the unusual ym spelling comes straight from England. Many players forget that the y is a vowel here.
- wampanoagThe Wampanoag are the Native nation whose homeland includes parts of present-day Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and whose people were at the 1621 harvest gathering. Capitalize it in writing. Many players miss the final g.
Using this list in class
The week before the break is the natural time. Split the board into a words section and a phrases section, and let students suggest letters in turns so quieter children get a go. Pair plymouth, colony and settlers with a short history read-aloud so the vocabulary arrives with some context.
For spelling work, pick out the pattern families: the compounds wishbone, drumstick and mayflower, the double letters in casserole and appetizer, and the suffixes in grateful, gratitude and gathering. Younger grades can stick to the first column of short words, while grades three to five can try the longest ones on printed sheets with the answer key.
Print a Thanksgiving 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
- Fall Hangman WordsFall and autumn hangman words on leaves, harvest, orchards and cozy weather, with phrases and notes. Play online or print with an answer key.
- Fourth of July Hangman WordsFourth of July hangman words about independence, the founding era, flags, fireworks and summer cookouts. Play online or print a free sheet.
- Family Hangman WordsFamily members and home words for hangman, from mom to great grandmother. Play online with this list or print a sheet with an answer key for class or home.
- Food Hangman WordsFood hangman words from bread and cheese to spaghetti and guacamole, with phrases for longer rounds. Play online or print with an answer key.
- Desserts Hangman WordsDessert hangman words from cake and pie to meringue, tiramisu and cannoli. Play online with this list or print a sheet with an answer key.
- Christmas Hangman Words56 Christmas hangman words and 15 phrases, sorted by how hard they are to guess. Play online with this list or print a sheet with an answer key.