Muscular System Crossword Puzzle

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Muscular System Crossword

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

This grid is wider than a phone screen, so it scrolls sideways. It prints whole.

Tap a square, and its clue shows here.

Across

Down

Word bank

  • Abdominis
  • Biceps
  • Gastrocnemius
  • Gluteus
  • Hamstrings
  • Latissimus
  • Masseter
  • Orbicularis
  • Pectoralis
  • Sartorius
  • Soleus
  • Tibialis

Type in a square and the next one takes over. Tap the same square again, or press Space, to switch between Across and Down. Arrow keys move around the grid, Enter goes to the next clue, and a clue takes you to its squares.

Print gives 3 pages on Letter or A4: the grid, the clues on a sheet of their own, then the answer key. The squares print 10 mm wide. For a PDF, choose Save as PDF in the print window.

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Answer key: Muscular System Crossword

1B2H3T4AIAIBC5SMBDEO6SSIOPLAT7OA8MASSETERRRLIUTIBIN9GASTROCNEMIUSILRGCSU10LATISSIMUSTULESAURSI11PECTORALIS

Across 8 MASSETER · 9 GASTROCNEMIUS · 10 LATISSIMUS · 11 PECTORALIS

Down 1 BICEPS · 2 HAMSTRINGS · 3 TIBIALIS · 4 ABDOMINIS · 5 SOLEUS · 6 SARTORIUS · 7 ORBICULARIS · 9 GLUTEUS

Next step Next: find the muscles on a drawing

All 50 clues

Show all clues and answers

Muscles by Place and Action 17

  • Abdominis Rectus ___, the six-pack muscle down the front of the belly
  • Biceps Front upper-arm muscle that bends the elbow
  • Deltoid Triangle-shaped muscle that caps the shoulder and lifts the arm out to the side
  • Gastrocnemius Calf muscle that rises onto the toes
  • Gluteus ___ maximus, the largest muscle of the buttock
  • Hamstrings Three muscles at the back of the thigh that bend the knee
  • Latissimus Broad back muscle that pulls the arm down, as in a pull-up
  • Masseter Jaw muscle whose name comes from the Greek for to chew
  • Obliques Side muscles of the belly that twist the trunk
  • Orbicularis ___ oris, the ring of muscle around the mouth
  • Pectoralis Chest muscle that pulls the arm across the body
  • Quadriceps Four-headed muscle on the front of the thigh that straightens the knee
  • Sartorius The human body's longest muscle, crossing the thigh
  • Soleus Flat calf muscle lying under the bigger one
  • Tibialis ___ anterior, the shin muscle that lifts the front of the foot
  • Trapezius Large diamond-shaped muscle of the upper back and neck
  • Triceps Back upper-arm muscle that straightens the elbow

Tissue and the Muscle Fiber 17

  • Acetylcholine Chemical a nerve releases to tell a muscle fiber to contract
  • Actin Thin protein filament that the thick filaments pull on
  • Calcium Mineral whose release inside the fiber sets the filaments pulling
  • Cardiac Kind of muscle found only in the wall of the heart
  • Fascia Sheet of connective tissue that wraps muscles
  • Fascicle Bundle of muscle fibers wrapped together
  • Glycogen Stored sugar that muscles use for fuel
  • Involuntary Working without your control, like the muscle of the gut
  • Motor neuron Nerve cell that carries the signal to move a muscle
  • Myofibril Long thread inside a muscle fiber, made of repeating units
  • Myosin Thick protein filament with heads that grab and pull
  • Sarcolemma The cell membrane of a muscle fiber
  • Sarcomere Smallest working unit of a striped muscle
  • Skeletal Kind of muscle attached to bones and moved at will
  • Smooth Kind of muscle in the walls of the stomach, gut and blood vessels
  • Striated Striped under a microscope, like the muscles on bones and in the heart
  • Voluntary Under your control, like the muscles that move your arms

How Muscles Move the Body 16

  • Abduction Moving a limb away from the middle of the body
  • Adduction Moving a limb back toward the middle of the body
  • Agonist The prime mover: the main muscle doing a movement
  • Antagonist Muscle that does the opposite movement and relaxes to allow it
  • Contraction Shortening or tightening of a muscle
  • Dorsiflexion Lifting the front of the foot toward the shin
  • Extension Straightening a joint so the angle gets bigger
  • Flexion Bending a joint so the angle gets smaller
  • Insertion The end of a muscle on the bone it moves
  • Lever Simple machine that a bone and its joint work like
  • Origin The fixed end of a muscle, where it stays put
  • Pronation Turning the forearm so the palm faces down
  • Rotation Turning a body part around its own long axis
  • Supination Turning the forearm so the palm faces up
  • Synergist Muscle that helps the prime mover
  • Tone Slight steady tension a muscle keeps even at rest

How this list was compiled: 50 clues written for this site in three sets: muscles by place and action, muscle tissue and the parts of a fiber, and the words for how muscles move the body. Facts were checked against Wikipedia's article on each muscle and term. Classroom anatomy only: no injury, illness or exercise advice. No clue was copied from a published puzzle. Licence: own work

How it works

This muscular system crossword puzzle draws from 50 clues: muscles by where they sit and what they do, muscle tissue down to actin and myosin, and the words for movement. Each press of New puzzle deals a new grid.

Read the full guide

Three sets

Muscles by Place and Action runs from Deltoid to Gastrocnemius; a clue with a blank, such as ___ maximus, wants the first word of a two-word name. Tissue and the Muscle Fiber goes from the three kinds of muscle down to the Sarcomere. How Muscles Move the Body holds Flexion, Abduction and their partners.

Print or solve

Print gives a sheet with the answer key last. To solve on screen, tap a square and type. Untick the word bank in More options for a harder grid.

  • Learn the movement words in pairs: flexion and extension, abduction and adduction, pronation and supination.
  • No clue prints another answer, so each word has to come from what you know.

Questions and answers

Is there a muscular system crossword with answers?

Yes. Every print ends with the answer key, and Show all clues and answers, under the puzzle, lists all 50 clues with their answers.

Which grades is it for?

Muscles by Place and Action suits middle school and up. Tissue and the Muscle Fiber and How Muscles Move the Body suit high school biology and first anatomy courses. These bands are our judgement, not a published standard.

Why do some clues give only half a muscle's name?

Grids take single answers of up to 15 letters, so two-word names are asked by their distinctive word: Gluteus for gluteus maximus, Tibialis for tibialis anterior. Sternocleidomastoid, at 19 letters, is too long for any grid here.

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