🐾 Ten animals are hiding in the word bank — fit each one into the right set of boxes! The answer key sits at the bottom — fold it backward along the dotted line before you start.
Read each clue and write the answer in the boxes (the word bank lists every answer). Then circle the marked letter (○) in each row to reveal a hidden bonus word!
1.
Has a super long neck (7)
2.
If you can see really well, you're said to have _____ eyes (5)
3.
What says 'meow'? (3)
4.
A small mouse-like pet that stuffs its cheeks with food (7)
5.
Has feathers and a nest (4)
6.
A type of green lizard some people have for pets (6)
7.
The only pet that barks (3)
8.
Sly as a _____ (3)
9.
Teddy and Winnie the Pooh are both this animal (4)
10.
A stinging sea animal that looks more like jello (9)
Because every answer is handed to you upfront in a fill-in, the puzzle is really a matching exercise, not a vocabulary test. Here's the fastest way through it:
Sort the word bank by length in your head. Group words mentally from 0 letters up to 0 — that turns a jumbled list into a set of ready-made buckets you can match directly to grid slots.
Start with any unique lengths. If only one word on the list has a particular letter count, and only one slot in the grid needs exactly that many letters, that pair is locked in immediately.
Use partially-filled starter letters. Any pre-filled letters already showing in the grid instantly eliminate every word on the bank that doesn't contain that letter in that position.
With 10 words to place, working from unique lengths outward keeps the puzzle moving. For more, see our guide to winning at word games.
About This Puzzle
Common Animals hides ten answers behind riddle-style clues rather than a plain word bank — “Sly as a _____” for FOX, “The only pet that barks” for DOG — so you're solving a clue as much as fitting a shape. Circle the marked letter in each row as you go and they spell out a hidden bonus word once the grid is complete.