Lets Complete the Word Chain - ELA Worksheets - SplashLearn - Free Printable

Let’s solve this step by step.

We need to complete the first word in each row by filling in the missing letters. Then, change one letter at a time to make new words that match the pictures in the same row.

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Row 1:

First picture: bell → starts with “b” → so the word is bell
→ b _ _ _ → fill in: e, l, l → bell

Second picture: beach ball → we need to change one letter from “bell” to get a word for this.
Try changing “b” to “b” (same), “e” to “e”, “l” to “a”? → “beal”? No.
Wait — maybe “ball”? That fits the picture!
Change second “l” in “bell” to “a” → ball

Third picture: boy falling → maybe “fall”? But we start from “ball”.
Change “b” to “f” → fall → yes! Matches the picture.

So Row 1:
bell → ball → fall

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Row 2:

First picture: little boy eating → starts with “l” → maybe “little”? Too long.
Look at blanks: l _ _ _ → 4 letters.
Picture shows a child → maybe “lad”? Or “lip”? Wait — he’s eating… maybe “lick”? Not quite.
Actually, common 4-letter word starting with “l” for a young boy? → lad? But let’s check next pics.

Second picture: lock and key → word could be “lock”
Third picture: sock → word is “sock”

If we go from “lock” to “sock” → change “l” to “s” → perfect.

So what’s the first word? Starts with “l”, 4 letters, matches a boy → maybe “love”? Doesn’t fit.
Wait — perhaps “life”? No.
Another idea: maybe “lip”? He’s licking something? But picture looks like he’s holding food.

Wait — maybe it’s “luck”? But doesn’t match picture.

Hold on — let’s think differently. Maybe the first word is “lick”? But spelling: l-i-c-k → 4 letters. Picture: boy licking ice cream? Possible.

But then “lick” → change to “lock”? Change “i” to “o” → lock → yes!
Then “lock” → change “l” to “s” → sock → yes!

But does “lick” match the first picture? The boy is smiling, holding something — maybe an ice cream cone? Could be.

Alternatively — maybe “lamp”? No.
Or “leaf”? No.

Wait — another possibility: “lend”? No.

Actually, let’s look again: the first picture — boy with hands together, maybe praying or happy? Could be “love”? But not matching.

Perhaps it’s “last”? No.

Wait — maybe I’m overcomplicating. Let’s try:

What if first word is “lock”? But it starts with “l”, and second pic is also lock — but we need to change one letter to get to next.

No — instruction says: complete first word, then change one letter to match next picture.

So first word must match first picture.

Another idea: “lion”? No lion.

Wait — maybe “leg”? Too short.

Blanks are 4 letters: l _ _ _

Common 4-letter words starting with L: love, life, lake, lamp, land, late, lead, leaf, lean, leap, left, lend, less, lift, like, limb, lime, line, link, list, live, load, loan, lock, log, lone, look, loop, loose, lord, lose, loss, lot, loud, love, low, luck, lump, lunch, lung, lure, lurk, etc.

Which one matches a boy? Maybe “lad” — but only 3 letters.

Unless... wait — maybe it’s “little” — too long.

Perhaps the picture is meant to be “lip” — but 3 letters.

Wait — look at the image again mentally: boy with closed eyes, smiling, hands near mouth — maybe he’s licking something? So “lick” is possible.

And “lick” → change ‘i’ to ‘o’ → “lock” → matches second pic.

“lock” → change ‘l’ to ‘s’ → “sock” → matches third pic.

Yes! That works.

So Row 2:
lick → lock → sock

But is “lick” the best fit? Maybe. Let’s keep going and see if others confirm.

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Row 3:

First picture: ring → starts with “r” → r _ _ _ → ring

Second picture: girl singing into mic → word? “sing”? Change “r” to “s” → sing → yes!

Third picture: boat on water → “boat”? From “sing” — change “s” to “b”, “i” to “o”, “n” to “a”, “g” to “t” — too many changes.

Wait — from “sing” to “boat”? Not one letter.

From “ring” to “boat”? No.

Maybe second word is not “sing”.

Girl singing — could be “song”? But “ring” to “song” — change “r” to “s”, “i” to “o” — two changes.

Not allowed.

Another idea: from “ring” change to “wing”? But no wing picture.

Or “king”? No.

Wait — third picture is a boat — maybe “ship”? But how from “ring”?

Perhaps the chain is: ring → sing → song? But “song” doesn’t match boat.

Boat — could be “yacht”? Too long.

Or “canoe”? No.

Wait — maybe “raft”? Still not from “sing”.

Another thought: maybe the second word is “ring” itself? No, we have to change one letter.

Let’s list possibilities from “ring”:

- change r→b: bing? No
- r→k: king → no pic
- r→s: sing → matches singer
- r→w: wing → no
- i→a: rang → past tense, no pic
- i→o: rong? No
- n→d: rigd? No
- g→t: rint? No

So only “sing” makes sense for second pic.

Now from “sing” to boat-related word.

What 4-letter word for boat? “ship”, “boat”, “yawl”, “skiff”, “dinghy” — too long.

“Canoe” — 5 letters.

Wait — maybe “sail”? But “sing” to “sail” — change n→a, g→l — two changes.

Not good.

Another idea: perhaps the third word is “sea”? But 3 letters.

Blanks are 4 underscores — so 4 letters.

Look at picture: small boat on waves — maybe “raft”? Or “barge”?

From “sing” — change s→b, i→a, n→r, g→g? “barg”? No.

Wait — maybe I have the wrong first word.

First picture: ring — definitely “ring”.

Second: singer — “sing” seems right.

Third: boat — what if it’s “ship”? How to get from “sing” to “ship”? Change n→h, g→p — two changes.

Not working.

Unless... change “sing” to “sink”? Sink is a word, and boats can sink — but picture shows floating boat, not sinking.

Not ideal.

Another possibility: maybe the second word is not “sing”, but “ring” changed to something else.

What if second word is “bring”? Too long.

Or “fringe”? No.

Wait — perhaps the chain is not direct? No, instruction says change one letter to make the word that matches the given pictures — implying sequential.

Let me skip and come back.

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Row 4:

First picture: park with kids playing → starts with “p” → p _ _ _ → park

Second picture: dog saying “bow-wow” → word? “dog”? But 3 letters. Blanks are 4.

“Puppy”? 5 letters.

“Bark”? Dog barks — and “park” to “bark” — change p→b → bark → yes! Matches dog sound.

Third picture: bank building → word “bank”

From “bark” to “bank” — change r→n → bank → perfect!

So Row 4:
park → bark → bank

Great, that works.

Now back to Row 3.

We have: ring → ? → ?

Second pic: girl singing — must be “sing” (change r→s)

Third pic: boat — need 4-letter word from “sing” by changing one letter.

What if it’s “swing”? Too long.

Or “sting”? No boat.

Wait — maybe “ship” — but how?

Another idea: perhaps the boat is a “yacht” — no.

Or “canoe” — no.

Wait — look at the picture: it's a small motorboat or sailboat? In the image description, it's a boat on water.

Common 4-letter word: “boat” itself.

How to get from “sing” to “boat”? Not possible with one change.

Unless the middle word is not “sing”.

What other word for singer? “Vocalist” — too long.

“Star”? No.

Perhaps “song” — but “ring” to “song” requires two changes.

Unless we consider “ring” to “rang” (past tense of ring), but no picture for that.

Another thought: maybe the first word is not “ring”, but “ringer”? Too long.

Blanks are 4 letters: r _ _ _ — so “ring” is correct.

Perhaps the third word is “sea” — but 3 letters.

Wait — maybe “wave”? But not from “sing”.

Let’s think of words that are one letter change from “sing”:

- sang (i→a) — past tense, no pic
- sung (i→u) — past participle, no
- sink (g→k) — could relate to boat sinking, but picture shows floating boat
- sin g — no
- singe (add e) — too long
- sting (add t) — too long

“Sink” is the only real word, and while the boat isn't sinking, maybe it's acceptable? But probably not.

Wait — perhaps the second picture is not “sing”, but something else.

Girl with microphone — could be “mic”? But 3 letters.

Or “tune”? Not from “ring”.

Another idea: maybe “ring” to “wing” — but no wing picture.

Or “king” — no.

Let’s consider that the boat might be represented by “ship”, and find a path.

From “ring” to “ship”: r→s, i→h, n→i, g→p — multiple changes.

Not good.

Perhaps the chain is: ring → sing → song, and “song” is misinterpreted? But third pic is clearly a boat.

Unless... is there a word like “barge” or “ferry”?

“Ferry” — 5 letters.

“Yacht” — 5.

“Dinghy” — 6.

All too long.

Wait — maybe “raft”? 4 letters.

From “sing” to “raft”? s→r, i→a, n→f, g→t — four changes.

No.

Another possibility: perhaps the first word is “road”? But starts with r, and picture is ring — not road.

I think I made a mistake in Row 2.

Let me double-check Row 2.

Row 2: first picture — boy eating or licking — “lick” is plausible.

Second: lock — “lock”

Third: sock — “sock”

lick → lock (i→o) → sock (l→s) — works.

But is there a better fit for first picture?

What if it’s “love”? Boy looking loving? Then “love” to “lock”? v→c, e→k — two changes.

No.

“Life”? To “lock”? f→c, e→k — no.

“Lake”? No.

“Lamp”? No.

“Land”? No.

“Late”? No.

“Lead”? No.

“Leaf”? No.

“Lean”? No.

“Leap”? No.

“Left”? No.

“Lend”? No.

“Less”? No.

“Lift”? No.

“Like”? No.

“Limb”? No.

“Lime”? No.

“Line”? No.

“Link”? Link to lock? k→c — “lin c”? No.

“List”? No.

“Live”? No.

“Load”? No.

“Loan”? No.

“Lock” — but then first picture should be lock, but it's a boy.

Unless the first picture is misinterpreted.

Perhaps the boy is "locked" in happiness? Stretching.

Another idea: maybe the first word is "luck", and the boy is lucky? Then "luck" to "lock" (u→o) — yes! And "lock" to "sock" (l→s) — yes.

And "luck" matches a happy boy? Possibly.

In many worksheets, "luck" is associated with four-leaf clover or happy events.

Here, the boy is smiling broadly — could be "lucky".

So Row 2: luck → lock → sock

That works, and "luck" is a common 4-letter word.

Better than "lick", which might not be intended.

So I'll go with that.

Row 2: luck → lock → sock

Now back to Row 3.

Ring → ? → ?

Second pic: singer — must be "sing" (r→s)

Third pic: boat — need a 4-letter word from "sing" by changing one letter.

What if it's "ship"? But not one change.

Unless... "sing" to "s ing" — no.

Another thought: perhaps the boat is a "yawl" or "skiff", but not common.

Wait — maybe "sea" is not it, but "ocean" — too long.

Perhaps the word is "wave", but not from "sing".

Let's list all 4-letter words for boat: boat, ship, yacht (5), canoe (5), raft, barge, ferry (5), liner, cruiser, etc.

"Raft" is 4 letters.

From "sing" to "raft"? No.

"Bar ge" — no.

Perhaps "dock"? But not boat.

Another idea: maybe the third word is "port", but not from "sing".

Let's think differently. What if the second word is not "sing", but "ring" changed to "bring"? Too long.

Or "fringe" — no.

Perhaps "ring" to "wing", and "wing" to "wind", but no wind picture.

I recall that in some puzzles, "sing" to "song" is accepted, but "song" doesn't match boat.

Unless the boat has a name or something.

Wait — look at the picture: it's a boat on water, and perhaps it's a "sail" boat, but "sail" is 4 letters.

From "sing" to "sail": change n→a, g→l — two changes.

Not good.

From "ring" to "sail": r→s, i→a, n→i, g→l — multiple.

No.

Another possibility: perhaps the first word is "road", but picture is ring.

I think I found it.

What if the second word is "sing", and the third word is "sink", and even though the boat is floating, "sink" is related to boats (boats can sink), and it's a common word chain.

In many educational materials, they use "sink" for such chains.

For example: ring -> sing -> sink

And "sink" can be associated with water/boats indirectly.

Perhaps it's acceptable.

Maybe the picture is meant to be a sinking boat, but in the description, it's just a boat on water.

But let's assume that's it.

So Row 3: ring → sing → sink

Then for the boat, it's a bit of a stretch, but possible.

Is there a better fit?

Let's consider that the third picture might be "ship", and find a different middle word.

From "ring" to "ship": not direct.

From "ring" to "rip" — too short.

Another idea: perhaps "ring" to "rig" — too short.

I think "sink" is the intended answer.

So I'll go with that.

Row 3: ring → sing → sink

Now summarize all rows:

Row 1: bell → ball → fall
Row 2: luck → lock → sock
Row 3: ring → sing → sink
Row 4: park → bark → bank

Let me verify each:

Row 1:
- bell (picture of bell)
- change e to a? bell to ball: b-e-l-l to b-a-l-l — change second letter e to a → ball (beach ball)
- ball to fall: b to f → fall (boy falling) — yes.

Row 2:
- luck (happy boy, lucky)
- luck to lock: u to o → lock (lock and key)
- lock to sock: l to s → sock (sock) — yes.

Row 3:
- ring (diamond ring)
- ring to sing: r to s → sing (girl singing)
- sing to sink: g to k → sink (boat on water — perhaps implying it could sink, or just the word) — a bit weak, but likely intended.

Row 4:
- park (park scene)
- park to bark: p to b → bark (dog barking)
- bark to bank: r to n → bank (bank building) — yes.

All work with one-letter changes.

So the completed words are:

Row 1: bell, ball, fall
Row 2: luck, lock, sock
Row 3: ring, sing, sink
Row 4: park, bark, bank

Now, for the answer, we need to write the missing letters for the first word in each row, and then the full words for the others, but since the task is to complete the first word and then change to match pictures, and the blanks are given, we should provide the filled-in words.

Looking at the worksheet:

For Row 1: first box has "b _ _ _" — so we fill e,l,l for bell.

Then next boxes have "_ _ _ _" — so we write ball and fall.

Similarly for others.

But in the final answer, probably list the three words for each row.

Since the user said "solve the problem", and it's a word chain, we can present the completed chains.

Final Answer:

Row 1: bell, ball, fall
Row 2: luck, lock, sock
Row 3: ring, sing, sink
Row 4: park, bark, bank

To match the format, perhaps write them as:

bell → ball → fall
luck → lock → sock
ring → sing → sink
park → bark → bank

Yes.