Word Ladder DailyONE LETTER AT A TIME

FIND YOUR WAY WITH WORDS

Word Ladder Solver

Find a shortest word ladder between two English words. Choose 4, 5, or 6 letters, then follow every one-letter change. Free to use alongside our daily word game.

Word length

The game uses 4 letters. Longer modes use separate, smaller word lists.

Try a little example:

How to use the word ladder solver in three steps

  1. Choose a length and enter your endpoints

    Select four, five, or six letters, then type a start word and a target word of that length. Letter case does not matter, and surrounding spaces are ignored. Use whole English words rather than a jumble of available letters. If you are following a puzzle from another game, copy both endpoints carefully and check that they have the same number of letters.

  2. Find a shortest route in the included word list

    Press Find a word ladder. The solver checks the selected vocabulary, then searches one-move neighbors before longer chains. A result includes the start, every intermediate word, and the target. Unknown words produce a vocabulary message; two accepted words that cannot be connected produce a no-route message. Neither result proves that the pair is impossible in every English dictionary.

  3. Read each change and compare the move count

    Follow the highlighted tile down the answer. The move count is one less than the number of words because the starting rung costs no move. Check unfamiliar words before using them in another game. If your own chain uses the same number of moves, it can also be shortest even when its intermediate words differ. Use the worked examples below to practice reading a complete answer.

This free tool supports our word game: study a complete answer after an attempt, then put the lesson into practice with a shared challenge. Play the daily word ladder. Want more boards at your own pace? Play the free word ladder game online.

Five word ladders, explained step by step

These five worked routes show how the tool’s one-letter rule works in a free word game. Each chain is a shortest answer within its selected vocabulary; it is a teaching example rather than today’s daily solution. Some pairs have several shortest answers, so the tool may choose another equally short route.

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.

Try this pair in the solver

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

There is also a standalone reference with reading tips and ways to create your own puzzles. Explore the worked word ladder examples.

A word ladder solver with letters: 4, 5, or 6

The length buttons above change the accepted input size and the vocabulary used for the search. They do not add or remove letters during a ladder: every word in a given result has the same length. Four-letter mode matches our playable game. Five- and six-letter modes are separate solver exercises with smaller curated lists, so they have more missing words and disconnected pairs than a comprehensive dictionary would.

4-letter words

1746 included words

Use the same vocabulary as the daily puzzle and unlimited game. Start with COLD to WARM.

5-letter words

708 included words

Try STONE to SPICE. This separate list includes common words, plurals, and verb forms.

6-letter words

731 included words

Try SCARED to SHORES. The longer-word list is finite and does not cover every English word.

Four-letter mode shares the game’s curated English vocabulary. Five- and six-letter modes have separate, smaller practice lists; adding solver words does not change published daily puzzles. No list covers every English word. Ordinary plurals and verb forms are included, but names, punctuation, and letter rearrangements are not supported.

A word missing from our list is not necessarily misspelled. Likewise, no route means only that the two words are disconnected here. We do not substitute invented words to complete a chain. When checking a route for a classroom activity or an outside game, review both meaning and eligibility. Read the word ladder rules.

Use the answer to improve your next game

Before revealing a route, write down a few neighbors of your current word. Try changing a vowel, then look for familiar endings that connect several words. You do not have to keep a letter just because it already matches the target. HEAD to TAIL is a useful reminder: a position may need to change more than once so that every intermediate rung remains a real word. After solving, compare where your route first differs from the shortest answer.

For the daily puzzle, use the board’s progressive hint when you want only the next step; this solver reveals a full answer. Our independent guide also explains the fixed-target Feetle variation and how it relates to the same one-letter rule. Read our independent Feetle word game guide.

Word ladder solver FAQ

Is this always the shortest word ladder?

It is a shortest path within the selected included vocabulary. Breadth-first search explores all shorter move counts before accepting a longer one. A different dictionary can add a useful bridge word and change that minimum. When several routes tie, the solver returns one; it does not list every shortest chain.

Can I enter a set of letters or rearrange a word?

Enter two whole words of the selected length. This is a substitution word ladder solver, so each move replaces one letter in the same position. It does not solve anagrams, reorder a rack of letters, add tiles, or remove tiles. Four-, five-, and six-letter inputs each use their own word list.

Why is a real word rejected, or no route found?

Our curated lists are intentionally finite. A real English word may be missing, especially in the compact five- and six-letter lists. Even accepted words can belong to disconnected parts of the graph. Check spelling and length, then try another pair. A missing route here is not proof that another word game has no answer.

Does the solver give today’s daily puzzle answer?

You can enter this site’s daily start and target in four-letter mode to calculate a full route. If you want to avoid spoilers, use the daily board’s staged hint instead. Our own archive contains dated solutions for this website. We do not claim to provide official Feetle or other publishers’ daily answers.

What happens if the start and target are the same?

If the word is accepted, the result contains that word and zero moves. You are already at the target. For a nontrivial ladder, choose two different accepted words of the same length. The starting word is always included in a result, but it never adds to the move count.

Is the solver free and usable on a phone?

Yes. You can use the solver in a browser without signing up, paying for credits, or installing an app. Its word-list search runs locally in the page after it loads. The examples remain readable before you run a search, while solving and the game controls require JavaScript.

Ready to use what you learned? Play the daily word ladder. Or keep practicing: Play the free word ladder game online.