Groundnut (Arachis hypogea L) production fluctuates considerably as a result of rainfall variability. Unpredictable time and the extent of water deficit occurs every year and causes a reduction in yield and quality. Under these conditions, the use of cultivars tolerant to drought and producing high yield should be advantageous. This experiment was carried out in Agronomy farm of Eastern University, Sri Lanka during the ‘Yala’ season 2017. This study was made to determine the impact of moisture stress on the growth and yield on selected groundnut cultivars. Three groundnut cultivars viz; ‘Lanka jumbo’, ‘Tissa’ and ‘Indi’ were used for this study. Continuous ten days of water stress was imposed on the groundnut plants during the flowering stage and the effects were evaluated. This experiment was laid out in the Randomized Complete block design with six treatments and four replications and the treatments were arranged in 3× 2 Factorial manner. There were significant (p<0.05) differences between the treatments in the tested parameters. The highest chlorophyll a (1.0), b (0.8) was detected in ‘Indi’ groundnut cultivar and the lowest chlorophyll a (0.5), b (0.4) was detected in ‘Tissa’. The highest leaf area index (0.6) was detected in ‘Indi’ cultivar and the lowest (0.3) was detected in ‘Tissa’. The highest yield (0.8 t ha-1) was observed in ‘Indi’ and the lowest (0.33 t ha-1) was found in ‘Tissa’. Hence, considering the measured growth and yield attributes, ‘Indi’ groundnut cultivar could resist drought better than the rest of the cultivars. As such, this cultivar could be suggested for cultivation in the drought-prone areas of the Batticaloa district.