Vegetable to Radish
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Vegetable
Table
-4
Stable
+1
Stab
-2
Slab
Chg 1
Slob
Chg 1
Slosh
Chg 1
Slash
Chg 1
Dash
- 2, + 1
Dish
Chg 1
Radish
+2
Clue
A piece of furniture at
which meals are eaten.
Steady. Or a place to keep
horses or other animals.
To wound or pierce with a
pointed weapon.
A flat piece of concrete
pavement.
An untidy, messy, or
slovenly person.
To splash about with a
liquid.
To cut with sweeping
strokes.
A small amount of a
something, usually a
seasoning for food.
A plate on which food is
eaten.
A red colored root
vegetable.
Nickel to Dime
Target Word
Nickel
Pickle
Letter Changes Required
Chg 1 and rearrange last 2
letters.
Pick
Pink
Stink
Sting
-2
Chg 1
- 1, + 2
Chg 1
Sing
Sang
-1
Chg 1
Sane
Same
Chg 1
Chg 1
Dame
Chg 1
Dime
Chg 1
Clue
A small cucumber that has
been preserved in vinegar.
Or a difficult situation.
To choose.
A light red color.
To be smelly or odiferous.
What a bee or wasp does
when angry.
To say words musically.
To have sung words
musically.
Mentally sound or health.
Resembling something in
every respect.
A woman of authority and
status.
What two nickels make.
Sweater to Coat
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Sweater
Sweat
Sweet
Sweeten
Ten
Ton
Stone
Notes
-2
Chg 1
+2
+2
Chg 1
+2
Rearrange letters
Not
-2
Jot
Jock
Chg 1
- 1, + 2
Jack
Jacket
Chg 1
+2
Clue
Perspiration
Opposite of sour.
To make sweet.
Number of cents in a dime.
2,000 pounds.
A small rock.
Short messages to help a
person remember. Or, what
musicians read to play
music.
A word that means the
“no.”
To write.
Short for jockey. Slang for
an athlete.
A nickname for John.
An outer covering worn for
warmth, like a sweater.
Car to Driver
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Car
Scar
+1
Scare
Share
+1
Chg 1
Sharp
Chg 1
Harp
-1
Hare
Dare
Chg 1
Chg 1
Dave
Chg 1
Dive
Diver
Driver
Chg 1
+1
+1
Clue
A mark left on the skin after
a wound has healed.
A fright.
To give part of what one
has to others.
Made for cutting or slicing;
having a thin keen edge or
point.
A stringed musical
instrument, often associated
with angels.
A kind of rabbit.
To challenge to perform an
action.
A shorten version of the
name David.
To descend in the water.
One who descends.
A person who operates a
car.
Give to Take
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Give
Live
Liver
Diver
Dive
Hive
Have
Shave
Chg 1
+1
Chg 1
-1
Chg 1
Chg 1
+1
Shake
Chg 1
Snake
Chg 1
Stake
Chg 1
Take
-1
Clue
To be alive.
An organ in the body.
A person who dives.
To descend in the water.
The place where bees live.
To possess something.
To cut or remove hair close
to the skin by use of a razor
blade.
To vibrate or move
irregularly back and forth.
A legless ands sometimes
poisonous reptile.
A pointed piece of wood
driven into the ground as a
support or marker.
To grasp or seize. The
opposite of give.
Vampire to Bat
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Vampire
Empire
- 2, + 1
Expire
Chg 1
Retire
Chg first 3
Tire
-2
Fire
Chg 1
Fine
Chg 1
Tine
Tone
Ton
Ten
Net
Bet
Chg 1
Chg 1
-1
Chg 1
Rearrange letters
Chg 1
Boat
- 1, + 2
Clue
A large area under the
authority of a sovereign.
To breathe; to breathe one’s
last – to die.
To go to sleep; to
withdrawal from one’s
professional career.
A circular rubber object
used on cars and trucks as
wheels.
What is made when logs are
set ablaze.
A sum of money imposed
as punishment for an
offense.
A prong on a fork.
Vocal or musical sound.
2, 000 pounds.
5+5
What is used by fishermen.
A wager or guess that
something will happen.
A vessel for traversing.
Tooth to Dentist
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Tooth
Toot
Shoot
Soot
-1
+1
-1
Soon
Chg 1
Son
Chg 1
Don
Chg 1
Don’t
-1
Dent
Chg 1
Dentist
+3
Clue
Sound made by a train.
What is done with a gun.
A black substance made
from the burning of wood.
As soon as possible;
immediately.
The male child of a father
and mother.
Shortened form of the name
Donald.
Contracted form of the
phrase “do not.”
A depression or indentation
on something.
A doctor who cares for
teeth.
Picture to Photo
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Picture
Capture
Chg first three letters.
Cap
Cape
-4
+1
Escape
Estate
+2
Chg 2
State
-1
Taste
Rearrange letters
Haste
Hate
Hat
Hot
Photo
Chg 1
-1
-1
Chg 1
+2
Clue
To catch or gain control
over something.
A head covering.
A kind of coat without
sleeves.
To get away.
A large piece of land with a
large house on it owned by
one person.
The U. S. originally had 13
of these.
A sense that allows a person
to distinguish between
sweet, sour, bitter, and
salty.
In a hurry.
To dislike very much.
A covering for the head.
Very warm.
Short for photograph.
Another word for a picture.
Hat to Cap
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Hat
Hate
Haste
Waste
+1
+1
Chg 1
Aster
-1, + 1
Asterisk
+3
Risk
-4
Disk
Chg 1
Duck
Luck
Chg 1
Chg 1
Lack
Chg 1
Lap
- 2, + 1
Cap
Chg 1
Clue
Opposite of love.
In a hurry.
Something worn out or no
longer needed.
A flower in the shape of a
star.
A symbol in the shape of a
star -- *
To expose oneself to injury
or harm. To take a chance.
A flat circular object such
as a record or a computer
disk.
An aquatic bird that quacks.
A force that brings good
fortune. “It was luck that
allowed me to win the
game.”
To be deficient or missing
of something.
To drink water with the
tongue. “When my dog is
thirsty he laps water
anywhere he can find it.”
A type of hat. Also, a
covering for a bottle.
Million to Dollars
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Million
Billion
Lion
Chg 1
-3
Stallion
Stall
+4
- 3
Still
Till
Chg 1
-1
Tall
Toll
Doll
Chg 1
Chg 1
Chg 1
Dollars
+3
Clue
A thousand millions.
A large animal belonging to
the cat family.
A male horse.
A place in a barn where a
horse is kept. Also, to
delay.
To be quiet or motionless.
A box or drawer for
keeping money. Also, a
function word that means
until.
Not short.
A fee paid for a service.
A small scale figure of a
person, played with by
children.
What most people would
like to have a million of. A
form of money.
Convention to Meeting
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Convention
Invention
-2, + 1
Intention
Chg 1
Tension
Pension
-2, chg 1
Chg 1
Suspension
+3
Suspense
- 3, + 1
Suspend
Spend
- 2, + 1
-1
Speed
Seed
Chg 1
-1
Meet
Chg 2
Meeting
+3
Clue
A meeting of people with a
shared interest.
Something invented; a
discovery.
What a person intends or
plans to do.
A feeling of stress.
A regular payment made to
a person after they retire
from work.
The act of suspending or
hanging. “On the Brooklyn
or Golden Gate Bridges the
roadway hangs from cables
strung high across the
water.”
A feeling of uncertainty
about the way events may
turn out.
To hang something.
To use something up,
especially money.
How fast something travels.
What farmers sow in order
to make plants grow.
To come into the presence
of someone.
Another name for
convention.
Ice to Water
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Ice
Alice
+2
Malice
+1
Chalice
- 1, + 2
Chalk
- 3, + 1
Stalk
Chg 2
Talk
Walk
-1
Chg 1
Walker
+2
Water
- 2, + 1
Clue
A girl’s name. The name of
the main character in
“…Through the Looking
Glass.”
A feeling of ill will towards
another. A grudge.
A drinking cup or goblet
often used in religious
services.
A whitish material use for
marking.
To follow another person.
The stem of a plant.
To speak or tell.
To transport oneself by
means of leg power.
A device to aid a person in
walking. Often used by
babies and older people.
What happens to ice when it
melts.
Medicine to Physician
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Medicine
Medic
-3
Medical
Ethical
Radical
Physical
+2
- 2, + 2
- 2, + 2
- 3, + 4
Physician
Physics
- 2, + 3
- 3, + 1
Phil
Pill
-5, + 2
- 1, + 1
Clue
Substances used to treat
illnesses.
A person without the
training of a doctor who
attends to the needs of the
ill.
Referring to medicine.
Referring to moral issues.
Something that is extreme.
Referring to a person’s
body. Or an examination of
one’s current state of health.
A doctor.
The study of nature, matter,
and energy.
Short for Phillip
The form than many
medicines come in.
Country to Nation
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Country
County
-1
Count
-1
Aunt
Tuna
- 2, + 1
Rearrange letters
Tundra
+2
Drain
- 3, + 2
Rain
-1
Rail
Chg 1
Nail
Chg 1
Nation
-1, + 1, + 2
Clue
A state is divided into
sections called these.
To name the numbers in
order.
The sister of one’s mother.
A fish that is popular for
eating.
A level treeless plain in
arctic areas.
To remove the water from
something.
Precipitation in the form of
water.
A long narrow metal or
wooden pole.
A pointed device to holding
two pieces of wood
together.
Another word for country.
Bed to Room
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Bed
Bled
Red
Read
+1
- 2, + 1
+1
Bread
+1
Break
Brook
Brood
Chg 1
Chg 2
Chg 1
Broom
Chg 1
Boom
Room
-1
Chg 1
Clue
To have lost blood.
The color of blood.
What is done with a book
or magazine.
A food made from the grain
of wheat.
To separate into parts.
A small river or creak.
To think about something
anxiously or with anxiety.
An instrument for sweeping
dirt from floors.
A loud explosive noise.
A chamber or walled off
area in a house.
Pillow to Blanket
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Pillow
Pill
-3
Fill
Chg 1
Fall
Chg 1
Tall
Talk
Tank
Chg 1
Chg 1
Chg 1
Bank
Blank
Blanket
Chg 1
+1
+2
Clue
A tablet; a form in which
many medicines are made.
To make full; what is done
when water is placed in a
glass.
To descend rapidly. Or,
another word for autumn.
Not short.
To speak or tell.
A large container for
liquids. Also, an armored
vehicle used in war.
A container for money.
Empty, without markings.
Something that goes with a
pillow.
Grateful to Thankful
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Grateful
Grate
-3
Gate
-1
Gateway
+3
Getaway
Away
Rearrange letters
-3
Way
Yaw
Thaw
Than
-1
Rearrange letters
- 1, + 2
Chg 1
Thank
+1
Thankful
+3
Clue
A metal frame used for
cooking over a fire.
A door or opening on a
fence or wall.
An opening for something.
A starting place.
A brief vacation.
From this or that place.
“Go away now.”
A route or road.
A side to side motion.
To unfreeze.
A word used in
comparisons. “I am bigger
than my older brother.”
To express gratitude for
something.
Another word for grateful.
Deliver to Send
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Deliver
Liver
Live
Line
-2
-1
Chg 1
Lime
Slime
Chg 1
+1
Slim
Slam
Sam
Sad
Sand
-1
Chg 1
-1
Chg 1
+1
Send
Chg 1
Clue
To bring to someone.
An organ in the body.
To be alive.
A long straight mark
without.
A citrus fruit.
A soft moist and gooey
substance.
Thin.
To shut.
Short for Samuel.
Unhappy.
Grainy substance found on
beaches.
The opposite of deliver.
Rain to Cloud
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Rain
Ran
Raw
War
Wore
-1
Chg 1
Rearrange letters
- 1, + 2
Swore
Sword
Words
+1
Chg 1
Rearrange letters
Word
-1
Lord
- 2, + 1
Loud
Cloud
Chg 1
+1
Clue
To have walked fast.
Not fresh.
Opposite of peace.
To have had clothes on
one’s body. Past tense of
wear. “I wore my best
clothes to my sister’s
wedding.”
To take an oath.
A long cutting instrument.
What we are making in this
activity.
Three words minus two
words equals one _______.
A person who has power or
authority over others.
Noisy. A big sound.
What causes rain.
Private to General
Target Word
Private
Pirate
Letter Changes Required
nd
Irate
Rate
- 1, rearrange 2 and 3
letters.`
-1
-1
Grate
+1
Generate
+3
Generation
- 1, + 3
Generally
- 4, + 3
Generalize
- 2, + 4
General
-3
rd
Clue
Lowest rank in the military.
One who robs others on the
high seas.
Anger.
To judge or grade others or
things.
To make something into
small particles by rubbing it
on a rough surface.
To produce or make. The
word used to express the
making of electricity. “The
power plant generates
enough electricity for our
entire town.”
A group of people born and
living at the same time.
“My parent’s generation is
all through with school.
Referring to the overall
picture.
To apply to a larger group
or wider body of others.
“Since the medicine works
well with boys, we will
generalize that it will work
with girls as well.”
Highest rank in the military.
Bucket to Pail
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Bucket
Buck
Duck
Duct
-3
Chg 1
Chg 1
Conduct
Conductor
+3
+2
Doctor
- 3, chg 1
Dock
- 3, + 1
Mock
Chg 1
Mick
Pick
Chg 1
Chg 1
Pack
Pail
Chg 1
Chg 2
Clue
Another word for a dollar.
An aquatic bird that quacks.
A tube or pipe for carrying
substances such as air or
wiring in a house.
To lead or guide.
A person who leads or
guides – an orchestra or a
passenger train.
A person who specializes in
medicine.
The walkway at which
boats are parked for loading
and unloading.
To deride or ridicule
another person.
A nickname for Michael.
To choose or select. To
gather by plucking.
To store away clothes.
Another name for a bucket.
Carmel to Sweet
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Caramel
Camel
-2
Came
Cane
-1
Chg 1
Sane
Chg 1
Same
Chg 1
Seam
Rearrange letters
Seat
Sweat
Chg 1
+1
Sweet
Chg 1
Clue
A chewy candy.
An animal fitted well for
living in the desert.
To have come.
A long stick used by people
to support themselves while
walking.
Rational. Mentally sound
or in good health.
Like something else in all
ways.
The place where two pieces
of cloth are sewn together.
A place where one can sit.
Water that comes from the
body to cool it.
Perspiration.
The flavor of caramel.
March to Walk
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
March
Marsh
Mars
Chg 1
-1
Mare
More
Wore
Chg 1
Chg 1
Chg 1
Were
Chg 1
Where
+1
Here
-1
Hire
Chg 1
Hare
Ware
Chg 1
Chg 1
Wart
Walk
Chg 1
Chg 2
Clue
To move along in a steady
rhythmic stride.
Soft wet land.
The red planet. Where
Martians come from.
A female horse.
Opposite of less.
“Yesterday I wore my
favorite shirt.”
Past tense of are. “Where
were you last night?”
Referring to a place or
location.
Referring to a place that a
person is at.
To employ another person.
To engage the personal
services of another for a
period of time.
A kind of rabbit.
Articles of fired clay, such
as pottery or dishes.
A small bump on the skin.
Besides march, another way
to move with the legs.
Digest to Eat
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Digest
Diet
-2
Die
-1
Dim
Dam
Chg 1
Chg 1
Dame
Made
Mad
Mat
Eat
+1
Rearrange letters
-1
Chg 1
Chg 1
Clue
To absorb food into the
body.
What people go on to loose
weight. Food and drink
that is regularly consumed.
Death. To expire. To pass
from existence. Opposite of
live.
Light that is not bright.
A structure used to hold
back water.
A woman of great status.
To have built something.
Angry or irate.
A floor covering.
What one does to food
before it is digested.
Television to Radio
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Television
Vision
Visit
-4
- 2, + 1
Sit
Set
-2
Chg 1
Seat
Heat
+1
Chg 1
Hat
-1
Rat
Ratio
Chg 1
+2
Radio
Chg 1
Clue
The ability to see.
To pay a call on another as
an act of friendship.
To be seated.
A collection of related
items.
Something that one sits on.
That which makes
something hot.
Something worn on the
head.
A large rodent.
The relationship in quantity
or amount of two things.
As a television is an
instrument for transmitting
sound and pictures over
distances, this is an
instrument used to transmit
sound only.
Forgive to Forget
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Forgive
Give
Live
Liver
-3
Chg 1
+1
Liter
Chg 1
Later
Chg 1
Lather
+1
Gather
Together
Chg 1
+ 2, chg 1
Get
-5
Forget
+3
Clue
What is done with a present.
To be alive.
An organ in the body that
secretes bile and causes
changes in many of the
substances contained in the
blood.
A unit of volume, slightly
smaller than a quart.
At some time in the future.
“We will go to the park
later in the week.”
A foam or froth that is
produced when soap is
agitated in water.
To collect or accumulate.
In one place or as a group.
“We walked to school
together.”
To obtain or gain
possession of something.
To not remember.
Automobile to Car
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Automobile
Mobile
-5
Mob
Cob
Cot
Scot
Scat
Scab
-3
Chg 1
Chg 1
+1
Chg 1
Chg 1
Cab
Car
-1
Chg 1
Clue
Capable of moving or being
moved.
A large unruly crowd.
Part of an ear of corn.
A small bed.
A person from Scotland.
To shoo away.
A hardened crust of blood
over a wound. Or a person
who takes employment
from a company during a
labor strike.
Another name for a taxi.
Another name for an
automobile.
Uncle to Aunt
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Uncle
Unclear
Nuclear
Clear
+2
Rearrange letters
-2
Learn
Earn
Earnest
- 1, + 1
-1
+3
Ear
-4
Are
Rearrange letters
Art
Chg 1
Ant
Chg 1
Aunt
+1
Clue
Not clear
Relating to atomic energy.
Transparent. Easily seen
through.
To gain knowledge.
To make money by work.
A serious and intent mental
state. “He worked in
earnest on that exam.”
A part of the head used for
hearing.
“Where are you going
today?” “We are the best
students in the school.”
Works designed to give
intellectual pleasure –
music, sculpture, etc.
A common insect that walks
and lives in colonies,
usually in the ground.
Female equivalent to an
uncle.
Dog to Bone
Target Word
Letter Changes Required
Dog
Dig
Chg 1
Ding
Ring
+1
Chg 1
Wring
+1
Bring
Big
Bag
Chg 1
-2
Chg 1
Bang
+1
Bong
Chg 1
Bone
Chg 1
Clue
What dogs like to do in the
dirt.
To make a ringing sound.
A small circular object
worn on the finger.
To squeeze or twist a cloth
to make any water come out
of it.
To carry something.
Large; not small.
A paper, plastic, or cloth
sack used for carrying
things.
A sudden, loud, and
explosive sound.
The deep sound made by a
bell.
What a dog likes to chew.
For more on Word Ladders see – Scholastic, (Tel: 800-242-7737, choose option #3)
Daily Word Ladders for Teaching phonics and vocabulary, Gr 2-3
Daily Word Ladders for Teaching phonics and vocabulary, Gr 4+
For More Making and Writing Words -- Teacher Created Materials
www.tcmpub.com (search for “Rasinski”)
Tel: 800-858-7339
Texts for Fluency Practice: Grade 1
Texts for Fluency Practice: Grades 2 and 3
Texts for Fluency Practice: Grades 4 and Up
Making and Writing Words, Gr 1
Making and Writing Words, Grs. 2-3