Bingo Cards: Custom Words

Your list, one card per player, all different

Paste a word list and the generator deals a differently shuffled card to every player. Choose a 3×3, 4×4 or 5×5 grid, how many cards you need, and whether to print a call sheet.

Duplicates can be stripped automatically, card numbers printed for handing back, and the call sheet sorted or left in list order.

How many words you need

More than the grid holds, and by a decent margin.

A 5×5 grid needs 25 cells. Supply exactly 25 words and every card carries the same 25 words in a different order, so everybody gets a line at almost the same moment and the game is over in a minute. Supply 40 and the cards genuinely differ.

The rule of thumb: at least half as many words again as the grid has cells. Fifteen for a 3×3, thirty for a 4×4, forty for a 5×5.

The free centre square

Available on the 5×5 grid, where it is traditional. It speeds the game up and gives everyone one guaranteed square, which matters more with young children than it sounds.

Leave it off for a vocabulary game where every cell should be earned.

The call sheet is not optional in practice

Print it. Calling from your original list works until you lose your place, and you will — the call sheet exists so you can cross off as you go and answer "did you call photosynthesis?" without guessing.

Sorted order helps you find an item quickly when somebody claims a line and you need to check it. List order helps if the sequence matters to you.

What it is genuinely good for

Vocabulary revision, where the caller reads a definition and players cover the word. That version is far better than reading the word out, because it forces the connection rather than pattern-matching.

Language learning, with the card in one language and the call in the other. Times tables, with answers on the card and questions called. Any list you want a group to hear thirty times in ten minutes without it feeling like repetition.

End-of-term parties, obviously, where the words are in-jokes.

Options on the form

Title, item list, remove duplicates, grid size, free centre, number of cards, cards per page (1, 2 or 4), call sheet, card numbers, sort order, font size, and a seed. A4 or US Letter.

The seed reproduces an exact set of cards, which matters if you print thirty and then need one more that does not duplicate an existing card.

Print at 100%; four to a page is small but readable, and one to a page suits players who need the size.