Free printable word ladder worksheets

Three one-page worksheets, each with eight word ladders and an answer key on the second page. Every rung of every answer is an everyday word, and each ladder is checked so that the boxes match the shortest route. Print them for a class, a tutoring session or the kitchen table.

Starter

Three-letter words, 2 to 5 steps. A good first ladder from about age 7.

HAT to CAP, BOY to MAN, CAT to DOG, MUD to PIG, FUN to DAY, CUP to TEA, RUN to HOP, WET to DRY

Download PDF

Explorer

Four-letter words, 3 to 6 steps. For confident readers from about age 9.

RIDE to BIKE, FARM to BARN, MILK to CAKE, HOME to WORK, MICE to CATS, HARD to EASY, NOSE to FACE, DUCK to POND

Download PDF

Expert

Five-letter words, 6 and 7 steps. For older students and adults.

BRAVE to THINK, BEATS to CANDY, COVER to WINGS, BLIND to DREAM, CROWN to STEPS, CLICK to STORM, CRACK to GLOBE, CLOCK to SHAPE

Download PDF

The rules on the sheet

Get from the top word to the bottom word by changing one letter at a time. Every rung has to be a real word, and the letters stay in the same order: TOP, TIP, LIP. These are Lewis Carroll's original Doublets rules. The game itself also lets you add a letter, but on paper the classic version is easier to explain and to check.

The number of empty boxes is the number of words you need in between. A child who finds a different route that fits is right, as long as every rung is a word everyone in the room knows.

Ways to use them

• Five-minute warm-up. One ladder on the board, the rest on the sheet for early finishers.
• Pairs. One child proposes the next rung, the other checks it is a word and that only one letter changed.
• Make your own. The answer page has space to build a ladder and swap it with a partner. Building one is harder than solving one, and it is where most of the spelling work happens.
• Phonics focus. On the Starter sheet, ask which position changed on each rung: first sound, vowel or last sound.

More classroom ideas, sorted by age, are in word ladders in the classroom, and the vocabulary angle is in build your vocabulary with word ladders.

Free to use

Print as many copies as you like for a class, a club or at home. If you share them on a school site, a blog or a resource list, please link to this page rather than to the PDF files, so people always get the latest version.