Crossword Puzzle Cells: Organelles and Transport

Press New puzzle for a grid of cell words, from organelles to osmosis, then solve or print it.

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Cell Crossword

Read each clue and write the answer in the squares that start at its number, one letter in each square.

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Word bank

  • Centriole
  • Chloroplast
  • Cilia
  • Cytoplasm
  • Cytoskeleton
  • Lysosome
  • Mitochondrion
  • Nucleolus
  • Reticulum
  • Ribosome

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Answer key: Cell Crossword

1MITO2CHONDRIONH3NUCLEOLUSO4RETICULUMO5CYTOPLASM6RLIAB7CYTOSKELETONITSL8LYSOSOMEIMA9CENTRIOLE

Across 1 MITOCHONDRION · 3 NUCLEOLUS · 4 RETICULUM · 5 CYTOPLASM · 7 CYTOSKELETON · 8 LYSOSOME · 9 CENTRIOLE

Down 2 CHLOROPLAST · 6 RIBOSOME · 7 CILIA

Next step Next: label the organelles on a plant cell

All 46 clues

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Organelles and Their Jobs 17

  • Cell membrane Thin flexible boundary that controls what enters and leaves
  • Cell wall Stiff layer outside the membrane of plant cells
  • Centriole Short tube in animal cells that helps organize division
  • Chloroplast Green structure where photosynthesis happens
  • Cilia Short hair-like parts that beat to move fluid
  • Cytoplasm Jelly-like filling in which the organelles sit
  • Cytoskeleton Network of fibers that gives a cell its shape
  • Flagellum Long whip-like tail some cells swim with
  • Golgi apparatus Stack of flat sacs that packages proteins to send out
  • Lysosome Sac of enzymes that breaks down worn-out parts and waste
  • Mitochondrion Structure that releases energy from food for the cell to use
  • Nucleolus Dark spot inside the control center where the cell's tiny builders are put together
  • Nucleus Control center that holds the genetic code
  • Reticulum Endoplasmic ___, a folded network of membranes, rough or smooth
  • Ribosome Tiny builder of proteins, found free or on the rough ER
  • Vacuole Storage sac, very large in plant cells
  • Vesicle Small bubble of membrane that carries materials

Structure and Function 15

  • ATP Energy-carrying molecule the cell spends like money
  • Bacteria Single-celled living things with no control center
  • Cell theory Idea that all living things are built of these tiny units
  • Cellulose Tough plant fiber, the main stuff of a plant cell's outer layer
  • Chlorophyll Green pigment that captures light
  • DNA Molecule that carries the genetic code
  • Eukaryote Cell whose genetic code sits inside a control center
  • Hooke Robert ___, who named the cell in 1665
  • Microscope Instrument used to see cells
  • Organ Group of tissues working together, such as the heart
  • Organelle Any small structure with a job inside a cell
  • Prokaryote Simple cell with no control center, such as a bacterium
  • Protein Large molecule built by ribosomes from amino acids
  • Stem cell Unspecialized cell that can become other kinds
  • Tissue Group of similar cells working together

Cell Transport 14

  • Active ___ transport, which uses energy to move things uphill
  • Channel Tunnel in the membrane that lets certain particles through
  • Diffusion Spreading from where there is more to where there is less
  • Endocytosis Taking material in by folding the membrane around it
  • Equilibrium State when amounts are even on both sides
  • Exocytosis Sending material out as a small bubble merges with the membrane
  • Gradient Difference in amount from one place to another
  • Hypertonic Describes a solution with more dissolved stuff than the cell
  • Hypotonic Describes a solution with less dissolved stuff than the cell
  • Isotonic Describes a solution with the same amount of dissolved stuff
  • Osmosis Movement of water across a membrane
  • Passive ___ transport, which needs no energy from the cell
  • Permeable Letting substances pass through
  • Phagocytosis Cell eating: engulfing a large particle

How this list was compiled: 46 clues written for this site in three sets: organelles clued by their job, the words for cell structure and types of cell, and cell transport. Facts were checked against Wikipedia's article on each organelle and process. No clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

This crossword puzzle on cells draws from 46 clues: organelles by the job they do, the words of cell structure and function, and cell transport from diffusion to endocytosis.

Read the full guide

Three sets for three lessons

Organelles and Their Jobs is the cell organelle crossword puzzle: Nucleus to Flagellum. Structure and Function covers Prokaryote, Eukaryote, Tissue and Cell theory. Cell Transport is the cell transport crossword puzzle, with Osmosis, Active and Passive transport and the three kinds of solution.

Worksheet or screen

Print hands out a sheet whose answer key is on the last page. On screen, tap a square and type. Switch the word bank off under More options when the class knows the words.

  • A clue with a blank, such as Endoplasmic ___, wants just the missing word.
  • Learn hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic together: hyper means more, hypo means less, iso means the same.

Questions and answers

Is there a cell organelles crossword with answers?

Yes. The last printed sheet is the key, and Show all clues and answers, under the grid, lists the 46 cell clues with every answer.

Does it cover plant and animal cells?

Both. Chloroplast, Cell wall, Cellulose and the large Vacuole are clued as plant cell parts, and Centriole as a part of animal cells. The rest belong to both.

Is this a cell structure and function crossword puzzle?

The Structure and Function set is, and the organelle clues each give a job, so the whole bank works for a structure and function unit. Grades 6 to 10 is our own suggestion, not a standard.

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