Word Ladder DailyONE LETTER AT A TIME

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Word Ladder Examples with Answers

Five worked word ladders, from COLD to WARM to longer five- and six-letter chains. Follow each change, count the moves, and try the pair in our free solver.

How to read a word ladder example

Read each chain from top to bottom. Rung zero is the starting word; every later rung replaces one letter without changing the word’s length or moving the other letters. The highlighted tile shows the replacement, and the note names its position, counting from the left. A ladder containing five words therefore has four moves. The examples below give shortest routes within our included word lists. A different dictionary may allow another intermediate word, and there can be several equally short answers.

If you have never played, learn the allowed moves first. Read the word ladder rules.

Five word ladders, explained step by step

The first three examples use four-letter words accepted by our game. The last two use the separate longer-word lists in the solver. Each example includes both endpoints and every intermediate word, so you can check the whole answer without starting a game or revealing a daily solution.

COLD → WARM

4 moves · 5 words

COLD to WARM is a useful first example because the endpoints are familiar opposites and all four letter positions differ. The chain below changes each of those positions once. CORD and CARD keep most of the starting pattern, then WARD brings the first letter into place before the last move makes WARM. Read the intermediate words aloud to check that you are building words rather than editing arbitrary strings.

  2. Position 3: L → R
  3. Position 2: O → A
  4. Position 1: C → W
  5. Position 4: D → M

Why four moves? Every differing position must change at least once, so four is a lower bound for these endpoints. This valid four-move answer reaches that bound and is therefore shortest. Notice that you do not need to change letters from left to right: the third position changes first, while the first position waits until the third move.

Try this pair in the solver

HEAD → TAIL

5 moves · 6 words

HEAD to TAIL shows why a sensible route can take more moves than the number of mismatched letters. Start with HEAL, a familiar verb, and move through TEAL, the name of a color and a duck. TELL and TALL create a bridge into TAIL. The final answer contains six words, including the two endpoints, so it takes five moves rather than six.

  2. Position 4: D → L
  3. Position 1: H → T
  4. Position 3: A → L
  5. Position 2: E → A
  6. Position 3: L → I

All four positions differ between HEAD and TAIL, but the third takes two changes, A → L → I, to keep every rung valid. TELL → TALL sets the second position. This shows why a shortest ladder can be longer than the number of differing positions. A solver may show another five-move chain; this example is one shortest answer in our four-letter dictionary.

Try this pair in the solver

LOVE → HATE

4 moves · 5 words

LOVE to HATE illustrates a dictionary-dependent detour. Change LOVE into COVE, a sheltered bay, then replace O with A to make CAVE. CAVE connects to HAVE, and HAVE connects to HATE. All four substitutions are legal in our game. Although only three positions differ between LOVE and HATE, the available intermediate words determine whether that theoretical three-move minimum can actually be reached.

  2. Position 1: L → C
  3. Position 2: O → A
  4. Position 1: C → H
  5. Position 3: V → T

Our included four-letter list does not connect this pair in three moves, so this four-move answer is shortest here. The first position changes L → C → H, which is the extra step. Avoid treating a shortest result as universal across word games: a dictionary that accepts other words can produce a shorter answer or a different chain of the same length.

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STONE → SPICE

4 moves · 5 words

STONE to SPICE is a five-letter example for the solver rather than the four-letter game board. STONE becomes SHONE, the past tense of shine, then SHINE. Replacing H with P makes SPINE; replacing N with C finishes at SPICE. The final E remains in place throughout, which is easy to see when the five letter tiles are lined up.

  2. Position 2: T → H
  3. Position 3: O → I
  4. Position 2: H → P
  5. Position 4: N → C

This takes four moves in our five-letter vocabulary. The fourth position needs the bridge through SPINE before it can become C, and the second position changes twice. Longer words do not automatically make a puzzle harder: useful neighbors and the chosen vocabulary matter more than tile count alone. Switch the solver to five letters before entering your own pair.

Try this pair in the solver

SCARED → SHORES

3 moves · 4 words

SCARED to SHORES uses six-letter words. Change A to O to get SCORED, then D to S to get SCORES. Replacing C with H produces SHORES. This example keeps R and E fixed while three other positions change. Six-letter mode uses a separate compact vocabulary, so its routes should be checked against the word list of any outside puzzle you are trying to solve.

  2. Position 3: A → O
  3. Position 6: D → S
  4. Position 2: C → H

Three positions differ between these endpoints, and this route uses exactly three moves, so no valid substitution ladder can use fewer. Another shortest answer is SCARED → SHARED → SHARES → SHORES, also accepted by our list. Finding a different chain does not mean the first answer was wrong; compare the move counts and validate each neighboring pair.

Try this pair in the solver

Turn a worked answer into practice

Cover all the intermediate words and try the same endpoints on paper. If you get stuck, uncover just the next rung rather than reading the whole answer again. After completing a chain, explain which letter changed at each step and why the new word is valid. This is useful for a shared spelling activity, although adults should preview the general vocabulary before using the game with children. Ready for an unseen pair? Play the free word ladder game online.

For a shared challenge with a fresh answer each UTC day, use the daily board. These teaching examples stay available, while the archive records this site’s published daily puzzles with optional hints and solutions. None of the five examples above is presented as today’s answer for an external game. Play the daily word ladder.

Make and check your own word ladder

Choose two accepted words of the same length, then try changing one position at a time. Keep a written list so you can spot repeated words and accidental two-letter jumps. Once you have a full route, compare it with the solver’s result. If yours is longer, look for the first point where the chains separate and examine the bridge word the shorter answer uses. If the solver finds no route, choose different endpoints or review the vocabulary limits.

You can prefill any example above or enter your own endpoints. Find a route with the word ladder solver. The fixed-FEET variation has its own guide. Read our independent Feetle word game guide.