Rush Get Rush

Word ladders

A word ladder turns one word into another by changing one letter at a time, and every step must be a real word. You find the words missing from the middle.

Rush doesn’t practise word ladders yet. These games practise related skills: Spelling and Missing Letters.

Start the guide Practise 8 questions

Chapter 1

What are word ladder questions?

You get a start word and an end word. You turn one into the other by changing one letter at a time, and every word on the way has to be a real word.

One or two of the words in the middle are missing, like rungs gone from a ladder. You find them.

  1. The start word. SHOP, where the ladder begins.

  2. The gap. One word, one letter away from the words on both sides of it.

  3. The end word. SNOW, where the ladder finishes.

  4. The answers. Five choices, A to E: single words, or pairs when two words are missing. Some papers give none, and you write them in.

Change SHOP into SNOW by changing one letter at a time. Which word goes in the gap?

SHOP → ? → SNOW

  • SHOW
  • SHOT
  • SLOW
  • STOP
  • KNOW

What counts as one step

Swap one letter for another in the same place, and land on a real word. So every word in a ladder has the same number of letters. Names don’t count.

  • POST PAST One change
  • POST POSTS Letter added
  • POST SPOT Letters moved
  • POST PUST Not a word

Chapter 2

Solve it in 3 steps.

Here’s the question, one step at a time.

The question

Change SHOP into SNOW by changing one letter at a time. Which word goes in the gap?

SHOP → ? → SNOW

  • SHOW
  • SHOT
  • SLOW
  • STOP
  • KNOW

  1. Step 1

    Mark the letters that change.

    Write SHOP over SNOW and compare them letter by letter. S and O match, so they stay. H has to become N, and P has to become W.

    S H O P S N O W

    Two letters change, so it takes two steps.

  2. Step 2

    Try each change on its own.

    The gap word makes one of the two changes. Change H to N and you get SNOP, which isn’t a word. Change P to W and you get SHOW, which is.

    S H O P S N O P S H O W

    Only one of the two is a real word.

  3. Step 3

    Check every rung.

    Each word must change exactly one letter from the word before it. SHOP to SHOW changes P to W. SHOW to SNOW changes H to N. That’s one change a rung.

    S H O P S H O W S N O W

    One coloured letter on each new rung.

Two traps in the options

The mistakeDo this instead
Checking one side only. SHOT and STOP are one letter from SHOP, and SLOW is one letter from SNOW. But each one is two letters from the word on its other side.Check every option against the word before the gap and the word after it.
Changing a letter that stays. KNOW swaps the S for a K, but SHOP and SNOW both start with S.Letters the start and end words share don’t change. Cross out any option that changes one.

So it’s SHOW. SHOP to SHOW changes P to W, and SHOW to SNOW changes H to N: one letter each time.

Remember: One letter a rung, real words only.

Chapter 3

Harder ladders.

Two gaps, dead ends, detours and tricky spellings. Each card is one catch: the rule, an example and the trap.

  • C O O K H O O K H O O D H O L D

    Two gaps: one change at a time

    Three letters to change in three steps? Try each change, keep the real word, then do it again.

    COOK to HOLD. From COOK you can make HOOK, COLK or COOD. Only HOOK is a word, so the C changes first. From HOOK, HOOD works, then HOLD. Trap: COOL, COLD looks fine, but COOL to COLD changes two letters at once.

  • B A N D B E N D B E A D B E A K

    Dead end? Work back from the end

    If a word leads nowhere, go back and try the other one, or start from the end word.

    BAND to BEAK. BANK is a word, but its next steps, BENK and BAAK, aren’t. Work back instead: BEAK only comes from BEAD, and BEAD from BEND. Trap: sticking with the first word you find.

  • D R A W D R E W G R E W G R O W

    One letter takes a detour

    More steps than letters to change? Then one letter changes twice.

    DRAW to GROW changes D and A, but in three steps. GRAW and DROW aren’t words, so A goes to E first: DREW, GREW, GROW. Trap: DREW, CREW looks close, but CREW to GROW changes two letters.

  • L E A D R E A D P E A R P A I R

    Go by spelling, not sound

    A step is about letters. How the words sound doesn’t matter.

    LEAF, LEAD, READ works: LEAD and READ differ only in their first letter, whether they rhyme or not. Trap: PEAR and PAIR sound the same, but two letters differ, so that’s not one step.

Chapter 4

Try it yourself.

Easier ones first. Try each one before you open its answer.

  1. Question 1Level 1

    Change TASK into WALK by changing one letter at a time. Which word goes in the gap?

    TASK → ? → WALK

    • TALK
    • MASK
    • TALL
    • WALL
    • TACK
    Show answer

    Answer: TALK.

    How to answer it

    1. TASK and WALK share A and K. T has to become W, and S has to become L.
    2. Change T first: WASK, not a word. Change S first: TALK.
    3. TALK to WALK changes T to W. The answer is TALK.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • MASKOne letter from TASK, but it changes the T to M, and WALK has no M.
    • TALLTASK to TALL changes two letters, S and K.
    • WALLOne letter from WALK, but TASK to WALL changes three letters.
    • TACKOne letter from TASK, but S becomes C, and WALK has L there.

  2. Question 2Level 1

    Change GOLF into TOLD by changing one letter at a time. Which word goes in the gap?

    GOLF → ? → TOLD

    Show answer

    Answer: GOLD.

    How to answer it

    1. GOLF and TOLD share O and L. G has to become T, and F has to become D.
    2. Change G first: TOLF, not a word. Change F first: GOLD.
    3. GOLD to TOLD changes G to T. The answer is GOLD.

  3. Question 3Level 1

    Change LANE into NINE by changing one letter at a time. Which word goes in the gap?

    LANE → ? → NINE

    • LAKE
    • LINE
    • MINE
    • NONE
    • PINE
    Show answer

    Answer: LINE.

    How to answer it

    1. LANE and NINE share N and E. L has to become N, and A has to become I.
    2. Change L first: NANE, not a word. Change A first: LINE.
    3. LINE to NINE changes L to N. The answer is LINE.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • LAKEOne letter from LANE, but it changes the N, which NINE keeps.
    • MINEOne letter from NINE, but LANE to MINE changes two letters, L and A.
    • NONEOne letter from NINE, but LANE to NONE changes two letters, L and A.
    • PINEOne letter from NINE, but LANE to PINE changes two letters, L and A.

  4. Question 4Level 2

    Change BELL into REST by changing one letter at a time, making a real word at each step. Which two words go in the gaps?

    BELL → ? → ? → REST

    • TELL, TEST
    • BELT, BEST
    • BELT, MELT
    • WELL, WEST
    • BELT, BENT
    Show answer

    Answer: BELT, BEST.

    How to answer it

    1. BELL and REST share only the E. B, the first L and the second L all have to change: three changes, three steps.
    2. Try each change on BELL: B to R gives RELL, the first L to S gives BESL, and the last L to T gives BELT. Only BELT is a word.
    3. From BELT, L to S gives BEST, and B to R gives REST. The answer is BELT, BEST.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • TELL, TESTTELL to TEST changes two letters at once: L becomes S and L becomes T.
    • BELT, MELTMELT to REST changes two letters, M and L.
    • WELL, WESTWELL to WEST changes two letters at once, both Ls.
    • BELT, BENTBENT to REST changes two letters, B and N.

  5. Question 5Level 2

    Change HIDE into RISK by changing one letter at a time, making a real word at each step. Which two words go in the gaps?

    HIDE → ? → ? → RISK

    • WIDE, WISE
    • RIDE, RISE
    • RIDE, RIPE
    • HIRE, HIKE
    • SIDE, SITE
    Show answer

    Answer: RIDE, RISE.

    How to answer it

    1. HIDE and RISK share only the I. H, D and E all have to change.
    2. H to R gives RIDE. D to S gives HISE, and E to K gives HIDK, so RIDE is the only word.
    3. From RIDE, D to S gives RISE, and E to K gives RISK. The answer is RIDE, RISE.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • WIDE, WISEWISE to RISK changes two letters, W and E.
    • RIDE, RIPERIPE to RISK changes two letters, P and E.
    • HIRE, HIKEHIDE to HIRE puts R in the third place, where RISK has S. HIKE to RISK then changes three letters.
    • SIDE, SITESITE to RISK changes three letters.

  6. Question 6Level 2

    Change BOAT into CAST by changing one letter at a time, making a real word at each step. Which two words go in the gaps?

    BOAT → ? → ? → CAST

    • MOST, MAST
    • COAT, CHAT
    • COAT, COST
    • BEAT, BEST
    • COAT, COAL
    Show answer

    Answer: COAT, COST.

    How to answer it

    1. BOAT and CAST share only the T. B, O and A all have to change.
    2. B to C gives COAT. O to A gives BAAT and A to S gives BOST, neither of them a word.
    3. From COAT, A to S gives COST, and O to A gives CAST. The answer is COAT, COST.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • MOST, MASTBOAT to MOST changes two letters, B and A.
    • COAT, CHATCHAT to CAST changes two letters, H and A.
    • BEAT, BESTBEST to CAST changes two letters, B and E.
    • COAT, COALCOAL changes the T, which CAST keeps.

  7. Question 7Level 3

    Change BLOW into KNOW by changing one letter at a time, making a real word at each step. Which two words go in the gaps?

    BLOW → ? → ? → KNOW

    Show answer

    Answer: SLOW, SNOW.

    How to answer it

    1. BLOW and KNOW differ in two places: B has to become K, and L has to become N. Two changes, three steps, so there is a detour.
    2. The direct changes, KLOW and BNOW, aren't words.
    3. Send B somewhere else first. B to S gives SLOW. L to N gives SNOW, and S to K gives KNOW.
    4. The answer is SLOW, SNOW.

  8. Question 8Level 3

    Change TEEN into TWIN by changing one letter at a time, making a real word at each step. Which two words go in the gaps?

    TEEN → ? → ? → TWIN

    • THEN, THIN
    • TEEN, TWEN
    • THEN, THAN
    • SEEN, SHIN
    • TEN, TIN
    Show answer

    Answer: THEN, THIN.

    How to answer it

    1. TEEN and TWIN share T and N. The first E has to become W, and the second E has to become I. Two changes, three steps.
    2. The direct changes give TWEN and TEIN. Neither is a word.
    3. Take the first E on a detour: E to H gives THEN. Then E to I gives THIN, and H to W gives TWIN.
    4. The answer is THEN, THIN.
    Why the other answers are wrong
    • TEEN, TWENTEEN is the start word, and TWEN isn't a word.
    • THEN, THANTHAN to TWIN changes two letters, H and A.
    • SEEN, SHINSEEN to SHIN changes both Es at once.
    • TEN, TINThese have three letters. Every word in a ladder keeps the same length.
Next in verbal reasoning Letter sequences How to answer 11+ letter sequence questions: split the pairs into two rows, write the steps, wrap past Z, and watch for pairs in the wrong order. Read the guide

For parents.

What parents ask us about word ladders.

Questions parents ask

What is a word ladder in 11+ verbal reasoning?

A chain of words from a start word to an end word, where each word differs from the one before by a single letter in the same place. The question leaves out one or two of the middle words and asks for them. Every word in the chain has to be a real, correctly spelt word.

Can the letters be moved around or added?

No. Each step swaps one letter for another in the same position, so every word in the ladder has the same length. TEN or TIN can't sit in a ladder from TEEN to TWIN.

Do names or rare words count?

Names and capitalised words don't count, and setters build ladders from everyday words. If a step only works with a word your child has never seen, such as CRAW, it is almost certainly not the intended path.

How can my child get faster at word ladders?

Make them at home from words with a lot of rhyming neighbours: cat, hat, hot, hop. Take turns: one person picks a start word and an end word two or three letters apart and the other builds the ladder.

Practise the related skills in Rush.

  • SpellingEvery step in a ladder has to be a real word spelt correctly, and Spelling trains the eye to tell a real spelling from a near miss.
  • Missing LettersTrying letters in a gap until a real word appears is what you do at every step of a ladder.

Six games are free, plus a new family game every day. All 41 games are £24.99 a year after a free week1, or £3.99 a month.

Download Rush on the App Store

Available on iPhone and iPad