Word Pattern Finder
Find possible words using the letters and positions you already know. Enter a pattern, mark the unknown letters and quickly explore potential matches.
- Match known letters
- Use ? and * wildcards
- Instant possible matches
Find words matching your pattern
Enter the letters you know and use question marks or an asterisk for the missing parts.
Possible matches
Your matching words will appear here.
Ready to find a word?
Try a pattern such as s?a?e to find five-letter words with S, A and E in the known positions.
Searching for matches
Checking the word pattern and applying your filters.
No matching words found
Check your pattern or remove some required and excluded letters to make the search broader.
We could not load the word list
Check your internet connection and try again in a moment.
Word matches are provided using the Datamuse API. Word lists and accepted spellings can vary between games.
How to use the Word Pattern Finder
Build a pattern that represents the word you are trying to solve, add any extra letter clues and then review the possible matches.
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1
Enter the known letters
Type each letter in its correct position. Use lowercase or uppercase—the finder will treat them the same.
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2
Mark the unknown positions
Add a question mark for one missing letter or an asterisk when any number of letters could appear.
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3
Add optional letter filters
Enter letters that every result must contain, or exclude letters that cannot be part of the answer.
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4
Find and refine your matches
Choose how many matches to display, select a sorting method and adjust your clues if the result list is too broad or too narrow.
When a Word Pattern Finder can help
The finder is useful whenever you know part of a word but need help identifying the missing letters or exploring possible answers.
Crosswords and word grids
Enter the letters already supplied by crossing answers and replace each empty square with a question mark.
Word and letter games
Search for possible words when the game reveals fixed positions but leaves other letters unknown.
Hangman-style puzzles
Add every revealed letter in the correct location, then exclude letters that have already been guessed incorrectly.
Spelling and vocabulary practice
Explore word families, prefixes, suffixes and possible spellings during classroom or independent learning.
How the Word Pattern Finder matches words
The finder processes each search in stages so the displayed words satisfy the pattern and optional letter rules entered into the calculator.
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Stage 1
Validate the pattern
Underscores and full stops become question marks, other symbols are removed and the finder confirms the search contains at least one known letter.
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Stage 2
Search the vocabulary
The known letters and wildcard positions are compared with entries in a broad English word vocabulary.
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Stage 3
Apply letter filters
Words missing required letters or containing excluded letters are removed from the candidate list.
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Stage 4
Sort and display
Remaining matches are sorted using the selected method and limited to the requested number of results.
What “most common first” means
The default order prioritises words that the vocabulary service estimates are more common in written English. It is intended to place familiar possibilities near the beginning, but it is not an official game ranking or word score.
Limits of the results
Word databases can include regional, specialised, uncommon or inflected words. Always check the accepted dictionary for the game or puzzle you are completing.
Read more on How Our Calculators Work.
Common word-pattern mistakes and how to fix them
Small changes to a pattern can produce very different results. Check these common issues if your search returns too many words, too few words or no matches.
Using spaces for missing letters
Spaces and punctuation are removed from the pattern, which shortens it and changes the word length being searched.
Use ? (or _) for each unknown position.Choosing the wrong wildcard
A question mark represents one letter, while an asterisk can represent several letters or no letters.
Use ? for fixed length and * for variable length.Excluding a known letter
A search cannot succeed if the excluded-letter field contains a letter already fixed in the pattern.
Remove any letter that is already part of the pattern.Requiring and excluding the same letter
A letter cannot appear in both optional filter fields because the two instructions conflict.
Keep each letter in only one filter.Adding too many restrictions
A very specific pattern combined with several required and excluded letters may remove every possible match.
Remove one optional filter and search again.Expecting every dictionary to agree
Dictionaries and games can differ on regional, specialised and uncommon words.
Confirm the result with your game’s accepted word list.Common questions
Word Pattern Finder FAQs
Learn how wildcards work, how to refine your search and why accepted words can differ between games.
What is a word pattern?
A word pattern combines letters you already know with
wildcard symbols for the letters you need to find. For
example, c?t can match words such as
“cat,” “cot” and “cut.”
What do the question mark and asterisk mean?
A question mark represents exactly one unknown letter.
An asterisk represents any number of letters, including
no additional letters. For example, s?a?e
searches for five-letter words, while pre*
searches for words beginning with “pre.”
Can I search for words that contain certain letters?
Yes. Enter those letters in the “Must include” field. The finder will keep only words containing every required letter. Enter a letter more than once if the word must contain repeated copies of it.
Can I exclude letters from the results?
Yes. Add unwanted letters to the “Exclude letters” field. Any result containing one or more of those letters will be removed. Do not exclude a letter that already appears in your pattern.
Why did the finder return no matching words?
The pattern may be too restrictive, or its required and excluded letters may conflict. Check the wildcard symbols, remove unnecessary filters and try a broader pattern. It is also possible that no word in the available vocabulary matches every condition.
Are all results accepted in every word game?
Not necessarily. Games and puzzle publishers use different dictionaries, spelling conventions and rules for proper nouns, abbreviations or uncommon words. Check a result against the official word list for the game you are playing.
Can I use this tool for crosswords and Hangman?
Yes. Replace each unknown letter with a question mark and enter any letters that must be included or excluded. The tool can help narrow possible answers without guaranteeing that a particular result is the puzzle’s intended answer.
Why do some uncommon words appear in the results?
The finder searches a broad English vocabulary so it can help with a wide range of puzzles. The recommended sorting option places more likely matches first, but less familiar words may still appear further down the list.
Does the Word Pattern Finder work offline?
No. An internet connection is required because the tool requests matching vocabulary when you run a search.
Ready to solve it?
Turn those missing letters into possible answers
Enter the letters you know, add wildcards for the ones you do not and find matching words in seconds.
- Free to use
- No sign-up required
- Instant results