Sports Crossword Puzzle - Free Printable

To solve the crossword puzzle, we need to match the clues with the appropriate sports-related terms. Let's go through each clue step by step:

---

Across Clues

1. A device with a handle and strings used for hitting a ball
- This is a racket (used in tennis, badminton, etc.).
- Answer: RACKET

2. The ball must be hit with hands or arms
- This describes volleyball, where players use their hands to hit the ball over the net.
- Answer: VOLLEYBALL

3. A small, hard ball used in hockey
- In ice hockey, the ball is replaced by a puck, which is a small, hard disk. However, since the clue specifies "ball," it might refer to field hockey, where a small, hard ball is used.
- Answer: PUCK

4. A game played with an oval-shaped ball
- The sport that uses an oval-shaped ball is football (American football or rugby).
- Answer: FOOTBALL

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Down Clues

4. A sport played with a bat, ball, and glove
- This describes baseball, where players use a bat to hit the ball and wear gloves to catch it.
- Answer: BASEBALL

6. The ball can be passed backwards but not forwards
- This is a characteristic of rugby, where players can only pass the ball backward.
- Answer: RUGBY

7. A wooden implement used in sports
- A skateboard is a wooden implement used in skateboarding.
- Answer: SKATEBOARD

8. A sport with two teams trying to score goals
- Many sports involve two teams trying to score goals, but the most common one depicted here is soccer (football in some regions).
- Answer: SOCCER

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Filling Out the Grid

Using the answers derived from the clues, let's fill out the crossword grid:

```
5 4
|-----|-----
| | |
| 6 | 7 |
|-----|-----|
| | |
|-----|-----|

1 2 3
|----------------|
| |
| |
|----------------|
| |
|----------------|
| |
|----------------|
| |
|----------------|
```

- Across:
- 1. RACKET
- 2. VOLLEYBALL
- 3. PUCK
- 4. FOOTBALL

- Down:
- 4. BASEBALL
- 6. RUGBY
- 7. SKATEBOARD
- 8. SOCCER

---

Final Answer

The completed crossword grid looks like this:

```
5 4
|-----|-----
| | |
| 6 | 7 |
|-----|-----|
| | |
|-----|-----|

1 2 3
|----------------|
|RACKET |
| |
|VOLLEYBALL |
| |
|PUCK |
| |
|FOOTBALL |
| |
|BASEBALL |
| |
|RUGBY |
| |
|SKATEBOARD |
| |
|SOCCER |
|----------------|
```

Thus, the final answer is:
\boxed{RACKET, VOLLEYBALL, PUCK, FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, RUGBY, SKATEBOARD, SOCCER}