Types of Beans and Lentils: Pinto, Kidney, Garbanzo and Adzuki
Ten legumes eaten all over the world: pinto, kidney and navy beans of the Americas; garbanzo beans, also called chickpeas, from the Middle East; fava and lima beans; lentils; and from East Asia, soybeans, adzuki and mung beans. Legumes are cheap, full of protein and fiber, and good for the soil they grow in.
Most of the names are short, and only two are diagonal: garbanzo and lentil. Mung and navy read backwards.
Lentils & Beans Vocabulary: 10 Words to Find
Words run across, up and down, and diagonally; 6 of the 10 read backwards. The longest word is Garbanzo, with 8 letters.
- Adzuki: A small red bean from East Asia, cooked with sugar into the sweet red bean paste of Japanese and Chinese desserts.
- Fava: A large, flat bean grown in Europe and the Middle East for thousands of years, also called the broad bean.
- Garbanzo: Another name for the chickpea, the bean used to make hummus and falafel.
- Kidney: A red kidney bean, named for its shape, used in chili.
- Lentil: A small, lens-shaped legume cooked into soups and the dal of Indian cooking. The lens was named after it.
- Lima: A pale, flat bean named after the capital of Peru.
- Mung: A small green bean from Asia, best known for the bean sprouts grown from it.
- Navy: A small white bean used for baked beans, named because it was a staple food of the US Navy.
- Pinto: A speckled brown bean, the most popular bean in the United States and Mexico, used for refried beans.
- Soybean: A bean from East Asia made into tofu, soy milk, soy sauce and miso.
How to Solve the Lentils & Beans Word Search
"Adzuki" and "garbanzo" both have a Z, and "kidney" has a K. "Pinto" is the only word with a P and the only one that reads normally across. "Mung" and "navy" read backwards, so look for GNUM and YVAN.
Bean and Lentil Activities for the Classroom
- Sprout a few dried beans on a wet paper towel and watch the roots grow.
- Match each bean to a dish: hummus, chili, baked beans, dal, miso.
- Make a mosaic with different colored dried beans.
Lentils & Beans Word Search FAQ
Who is the Lentils & Beans Word Search for?
Students aged 9 and up and home cooks.
Which directions do the words run in?
Words run across, up and down, and diagonally; 6 of the 10 read backwards. 2 of them are diagonal.
Is there an answer key for the Lentils & Beans Word Search?
Yes. Download it from the printable section above: it is a separate PDF with all 10 words marked. Online, each word is crossed off the list the moment you find it.
More Fruits & Vegetables Word Searches
- Nuts & Seeds Word Search: nuts, seeds and the peanut, an easy puzzle.
- Edible Fungi Word Search: another medium puzzle for cooks.
More medium Fruits & Vegetables word searches (4 in this category)