3rd Grade Word Ladders
Four-letter words, 100 printable ladders
Third grade word ladders climb through four-letter words with a clue under every step: cake becomes care, then core, then corn. Students start out writing two words per ladder and finish writing five in a row with only the top word given, reading each clue to find the next rung.
What's in the 3rd grade pack
- 100 word ladders on 50 student pages, two to a page
- A clue under every step
- Four levels that ask students to write 2, 3, 4, then 5 words
- Standard and Assisted versions; the Assisted arrows point to the letter box that changes
- Teacher directions with a worked example
- An answer key for all 100 ladders
- Black and white pages that photocopy cleanly
Try a 3rd grade word ladder
This is ladder 29 from the 3rd grade pack. Read each clue, change one letter, and climb from host to cool. It prints free just below, and the free sampler has a page from every grade.
- hostStart here.
- a 4-letter wordThe sound an owl makes.
- a 4-letter wordIt goes on the end of a fishing line.
- a 4-letter wordTo make food with heat.
- coolA little bit cold.
Show the answers
host, hoot, hook, cook, cool
Free printable
Free 3rd grade word ladders to print
Here's a real page from the 3rd grade pack to print free: the ladder above plus one more, show to crow, in Standard and Assisted versions with the answer key. No sign-up, no account.
Prefer to keep it in your TpT library? Get it free on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Terms of use: Free to print and use with your own students. Please share a link to this page rather than the PDF files. Not for resale.
How the 3rd grade pack climbs
Every ladder in the pack uses four-letter words. What grows is the number of words students write.
| Level | Pages | Students write |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | Pages 3 to 14 | 2 words |
| Level 2 | Pages 15 to 28 | 3 words |
| Level 3 | Pages 29 to 42 | 4 words |
| Level 4 | Pages 43 to 52 | 5 words, top word only |
In the last level the bottom word is left blank too, so students can't work backward from it. They read every clue all the way down.
3rd grade Halloween word ladders
The Halloween and fall pack keeps the same routine with a seasonal theme: 50 ladders on 25 pages, the same four levels, Standard and Assisted versions, and an answer key. Its worked example climbs loaf, leaf, leap, heap, with a leaf that falls in October. To try one first, the free Halloween sampler has a page from this grade.
3rd grade winter word ladders
For December through February, the winter pack keeps the same routine with a winter theme rather than a holiday one: 50 ladders on 25 pages, the same four levels, Standard and Assisted versions, and an answer key. Its worked example climbs boot, foot, fort, form, with a snow fort and a snowball. More in Winter Word Ladders for Grades 1 to 5.
3rd grade prefix and suffix word ladders
For word-part practice, the prefix and suffix pack climbs by morphology instead of letters: at each step, students add, remove, or swap one prefix or suffix. It works with two prefixes and six suffixes across 32 ladders on four levels, with Standard and Assisted versions and an answer key. Its worked example climbs dream, dreamer, dreamy, dreamless. All three grades are on the prefix and suffix word ladders page.
Teaching more than one grade, or want room to move up or down a level? The Grades 1 to 5 bundle has all five packs, 500 ladders in all, for less than the price of four. Want the seasonal sets too? The Word Ladders MEGA Bundle has all 19 word ladder packs, 1,100+ ladders in all.
Other grades: 1st grade · 2nd grade · 4th grade · 5th grade. Every set, including Halloween and winter, is on the word ladders page.