Word Ladders Worksheets - 15 Worksheets Library - Free Printable

Let me solve this word ladder puzzle step by step.

The puzzle starts with "mister" at the bottom and we need to work our way up, changing one letter at a time based on the clues.

Starting word: mister

Step 1: "His eyes ___ with tears."
- The word should be related to crying or tears
- From "mister", if I change one letter...
- "mist" + something...
- Actually, looking at it differently: "mister" → if I change 'r' to 't', I get "mistet" - no
- If I change 's' to 'w': "miter" - no
- Let me think about words meaning "fill with tears" or similar
- "water"? No, that's not from mister
- Wait - "mist" is in mister. What if the answer is "mist"?
- Actually, let me reconsider: "His eyes [word] with tears"
- Common phrase: "His eyes filled with tears" or "His eyes welled with tears"
- From "mister": m-i-s-t-e-r
- If I remove/change to get "welled"? No, too many changes
- Let me try: "mister" → change 'r' to nothing? No, must replace one letter
- "mister" → "misted"? That could work! "His eyes misted with tears" ✓
- Change: r → d

Word 1: misted

Step 2: "Means out of place."
- From "misted", change one letter
- Words meaning "out of place": odd, wrong, misplaced, amiss
- "misted" → "missed"? That means failed to hit/catch, not quite "out of place"
- "misted" → "listed"? No
- "misted" → "misled"? No
- Hmm, "amiss" means out of place/wrong
- But how to get there from "misted"?
- Let me try: "misted" → "missed" (change t→s)
- Or maybe the word is "odd"? Can't get there easily
- Wait - "misfit"? That means out of place!
- "misted" → "misfit" (change e→f, s stays, but that's 2 changes)
- Let me reconsider step 1

Actually, let me restart more carefully:

Bottom: mister

Going up the ladder:

Rung 1 (from mister): "His eyes ___ with tears"
- mister → misted (r→d) ✓
- Answer: misted

Rung 2 (from misted): "Means out of place"
- misted → ?
- Need a word meaning "out of place"
- Could it be "missed"? No, that doesn't mean out of place
- "amiss"? That's 5 letters, misted is 6
- Oh wait, let me count: m-i-s-t-e-d = 6 letters
- All words should be 6 letters
- "misplaced" is 9 letters - too long
- "awry"? Too short
- "wrong"? 5 letters
- Let me think of 6-letter words meaning "out of place"...
- "askew"? 5 letters
- "oddity"? 6 letters but doesn't quite fit
- Hmm, maybe I have the wrong word for rung 1

Let me try a different approach. What if rung 1 isn't "misted"?

"His eyes ___ with tears" - other possibilities:
- "filled"? Can't get from mister
- "welled"? Can't get from mister
- "streamed"? Too long
- "brimmed"? Can't get from mister

Maybe "mister" itself needs to change differently...

Actually wait - let me check if all rungs have 6 letters by looking at the blanks in the image. Each blank line appears to show space for a word. Let me assume they're all the same length as "mister" (6 letters).

Let me try working backwards from common word ladder patterns:

If the top involves "vase" and "boy ___ the vase", that might be "broke"?

Let me try again systematically:

mister (6 letters)

Up 1: "His eyes ___ with tears"
- mister → misted (r→d) ✓

Up 2: "Means out of place"
- misted → need 6-letter word meaning out of place
- amiss? That's only 5 letters
- Unless... let me recount "amiss" - a-m-i-s-s = 5 letters
- What 6-letter word? "astray"? "awry" is 4
- "misplaced" is 9
- Could it be "odd" something?
- Actually, maybe the word is just "missed" and the clue is tricky? No, missed doesn't mean out of place.
- Let me try: misted → listed? No
- misted → lasted? No
- Hmm...

Wait! What if it's "amiss" but spelled with 6 letters somehow? Or what if I miscounted mister?

m-i-s-t-e-r = 6 letters ✓

Let me search for 6-letter synonyms of "out of place":
- awry (4)
- amiss (5)
- askew (5)
- wrong (5)
- odd (3)

This is tricky. Let me try a different word for rung 1.

What if "His eyes ___ with tears" is "welled"?
- Can I get "welled" from "mister"?
- m-i-s-t-e-r → w-e-l-l-e-d
- That's way too many changes.

What about "filled"?
- mister → filled? Too many changes.

Hmm, let me reconsider. Maybe some rungs have different letter counts?

Looking at the structure again - each rung shows blank lines. They might not all be 6 letters.

Let me try assuming variable lengths:

mister (6)

Up 1: "His eyes ___ with tears"
- Could be "wet"? mister → wet? No
- Could be "cry"? No
- Back to "misted" - this seems right

Up 2: "Means out of place"
- From "misted" (6 letters)
- What if it's "amiss" (5 letters)?
- misted → amiss would require: m→a, i→m, s→i, t→s, e→s, d→(nothing)
- That's not one letter change

Unless... the word is "missed" and I'm misunderstanding the clue?
- "missed" can mean "failed to hit" but also... hmm, not really "out of place"

Let me try yet another approach. What are common word ladders?

Actually, let me look at the TOP clues to work backwards:

Top: "The boy ___ the vase" and "Replace one letter"
- This suggests the final word before the answer is something like "broke" or "dropped"

"The boy ___ the vase" - likely "broke" or "hit" or "dropped"

Let me try working with 5-letter words from some point:

If somewhere we get to 5 letters...

Actually, you know what, let me just try solving it with the most logical path:

mister

1. mister → misted (r→d) "His eyes misted with tears" ✓

2. misted → missed (t→s) ... but "missed" doesn't mean "out of place"

Wait! What if "missed" CAN mean out of place in some contexts? Like "the shot was missed/off target"? It's a stretch but possible.

Or what if the clue "Means out of place" leads to "amiss" and I need to drop a letter somewhere?

Let me try: misted → missed → amiss (drop d, change e→s... no that's 2 operations)

OK new idea: What if rung 2 is "aside"?
- misted → aside? m→a, i→s, s→i, t→d, e→e, d→(nothing)... no

I'm stuck on rung 2. Let me skip ahead and see if I can figure out the pattern from other clues.

Rung 3 (going up): "Sorry I ___ you"
- This is likely "hurt" or "upset" or "offend"

Rung 4: "Complained"
- Likely "griped" or "moaned" or "whined"

Rung 5: "Traveled by this"
- Likely "bus" or "car" or "train" or "boat" or "plane"

Top: "The boy ___ the vase"
- Likely "broke" or "hit" or "dropped"

And the very top answer relates to what happened to the vase.

Let me try a completely different starting assumption. What if the words get SHORTER as we go up?

mister (6 letters)

1. mister → mister minus one letter somehow? No, must REPLACE one letter

OK so all words must be same length OR we're replacing letters including possibly with nothing?

Actually, "replace one letter" typically means swap one letter for another, keeping the same length.

Let me try once more, very carefully:

mister (6 letters)

Going UP:

Rung 1: "His eyes ___ with tears"
- Options: misted, filled, welled, brimmed
- From mister: only misted works (r→d)
- Answer: misted (6 letters)

Rung 2: "Means out of place" (from misted, 6 letters, change 1 letter)
- 6-letter words meaning out of place...
- Actually, what about "astray"? a-s-t-r-a-y = 6 letters!
- Can I get "astray" from "misted"?
- m-i-s-t-e-d → a-s-t-r-a-y
- m→a, i→s, s→t, t→r, e→a, d→y... that's 6 changes, no

What about "mislay"? m-i-s-l-a-y = 6 letters, means to put in wrong place/out of place!
- misted → mislay
- m→m, i→i, s→s, t→l, e→a, d→y... that's 3 changes (t→l, e→a, d→y), no

What about "amiss" padded somehow? No.

Hmm, what 6-letter word from misted with one change means "out of place"?

misted: m-i-s-t-e-d
Change m→?: ?isted
Change i→?: m?sted
Change s→?: mi?ted
Change t→?: mis?ed
Change e→?: mist?d
Change d→?: miste?

"misled"? m-i-s-l-e-d - means deceived, not out of place
"missed"? m-i-s-s-e-d - means failed to hit
"misted"? already have this
"minted"? m-i-n-t-e-d - means made coins
"listed"? l-i-s-t-e-d - means tilted! Tilted can mean out of place!

Yes! "listed" can mean tilted or leaning, which is out of place!
- misted → listed (m→l)
- Answer: listed (6 letters)

Rung 3: "Sorry I ___ you" (from listed, 6 letters, change 1 letter)
- Common phrases: "Sorry I hurt you", "Sorry I upset you", "Sorry I offended you"
- From "listed": l-i-s-t-e-d
- Need a 6-letter word...
- "hurt" is 4 letters
- "upset" is 5 letters
- "offend" is 6 letters! o-f-f-e-n-d
- Can I get "offend" from "listed"?
- l-i-s-t-e-d → o-f-f-e-n-d
- l→o, i→f, s→f, t→e, e→n, d→d... that's 5 changes, no

What 6-letter word meaning apologize/hurt from "listed"?
- "lasted"? No
- "lusted"? No
- "lifted"? No
- "loosed"? No

Hmm, what if it's "upset" but that's 5 letters...

Wait, what if some rungs ARE different lengths? Let me reconsider.

Actually, looking at typical word ladders, they usually maintain the same length. But let me check if "Sorry I ___ you" could be a 6-letter word:
- "insult"? 6 letters! "Sorry I insult you" - grammatically should be "insulted" but maybe...
- "offend"? Already considered
- "distress"? 8 letters
- "affront"? 7 letters

From "listed" to "insult"?
- l-i-s-t-e-d → i-n-s-u-l-t
- Way too many changes.

Let me try: listed → lasted (i→a)? "Sorry I lasted you"? No, doesn't make sense.

listed → loosed (i→o, t→o)? That's 2 changes.

listed → litest? Not a word.

Hmm, what about "harm"? Too short.

OK let me try yet another word for rung 2. What if it's not "listed"?

From "misted", what other 6-letter words with one change?
- misted → missed (t→s)
- misted → minted (s→n)
- misted -> masted (i→a)
- misted -> misted (no change)
- misted -> mistal? No
- misted -> miserly? No, 7 letters

What does "missed" mean in terms of "out of place"?
- A missed shot is off-target, which is out of place... it's a stretch but possible.

Let me try:
- misted → missed (t→s) "out of place" (stretch)
- missed → ? "Sorry I ___ you"
- missed → misled (s→l)? "Sorry I misled you" ✓ That works!
- misled means deceived/tricked

So rung 3: misled

Rung 4: "Complained" (from misled, 6 letters, change 1 letter)
- misled: m-i-s-l-e-d
- Words meaning complained: griped, moaned, whined, carped, kvetched
- "griped" is 6 letters! g-r-i-p-e-d
- Can I get "griped" from "misled"?
- m-i-s-l-e-d → g-r-i-p-e-d
- m→g, i→r, s→i, l→p, e→e, d→d... that's 4 changes, no

What about "moaned"? m-o-a-n-e-d = 6 letters
- misled → moaned
- m→m, i→o, s→a, l→n, e→e, d→d... that's 3 changes (i→o, s→a, l→n), no

What about "whined"? w-h-i-n-e-d = 6 letters
- misled → whined? Too many changes.

From misled, changing one letter:
- ?isled, m?sled, mi?led, mis?ed, misl?d, misle?

"misled" → "misled" (no)
"misled" → "misdid"? Not really a word
"misled" → "mislit"? No
"misled" → "mislet"? No

Hmm, what if rung 3 isn't "misled"?

Let me backtrack. From "listed" (if that's rung 2):
- listed → ? "Sorry I ___ you"
- listed → lasted? No
- listed → loosed? No
- listed → litany? No

I think I need to reconsider the whole approach. Let me look at what makes sense for "Sorry I ___ you":
- Most natural: "Sorry I hurt you" (4 letters)
- Or: "Sorry I upset you" (5 letters)
- Or: "Sorry I offended you" (8 letters)

If the answer is "hurt" (4 letters), then we'd need to be at 4 letters by rung 3.

Let me try assuming words get shorter:

mister (6)

1. mister → mister with one letter replaced to make 5 letters? No, "replace" means swap.

Unless... OH! What if "replace one letter" can mean replace with NOTHING, effectively deleting it?

Let me try that interpretation:

mister (6 letters)

1. mister → miste (remove r)? No, that's not a word.
mister → miser (remove t)? m-i-s-e-r = 5 letters, means greedy person
But "His eyes miser with tears"? No.

OK that doesn't work either.

Let me try searching for actual solutions to this specific worksheet...

Actually, you know what, let me just try the most common word ladder solution patterns:

Common ladder: mister → mister-related words

Actually, I found a pattern! Let me try:

mister

1. mister → misted (r→d) "His eyes misted with tears"

2. misted → missed (t→s) "out of place" (a miss is off-target/out of place)

3. missed → misled (s→l) "Sorry I misled you" (deceived you)

4. misled → misery (l→r, d→y... wait that's 2 changes)

Hmm, misled → misery is 2 changes.

Let me try: misled → mildew? No.
misled → misdeal? 7 letters.

From misled (6 letters), one change:
- ?isled, m?sled, mi?led, mis?ed, misl?d, misle?

"misled" → "misled"
"misled" → "misdid" (e→i)? "Sorry I misdID you"? No.

Wait, what if rung 3 is "upset" and it's only 5 letters?

Then rung 2 must also be 5 letters to allow one-letter change.

Let me try 5-letter words:

If we go from 6 to 5 letters somewhere...

Actually, I just realized - maybe not ALL rungs use "replace one letter." Let me re-read the clues.

Looking at the image description: Each rung has "Replace one letter" instruction. So yes, all are one-letter replacements.

OK so they must all be the same length. Let me commit to 6 letters throughout.

Final attempt with 6 letters all the way:

mister

1. mister → misted (r→d) "His eyes misted with tears" ✓

2. misted → listed (m→l) "Means out of place" (tilted/leaning) ✓

3. listed → lasted (i→a)... "Sorry I lasted you"? No.
listed → loosed (i→o, t→o)... 2 changes, no.
listed → litmus? No.

What about "insult"? i-n-s-u-l-t
listed → insult? l→i, i→n, s→s, t→u, e→l, d→t... too many changes.

What 6-letter word from "listed" meaning "hurt/upset someone"?
- "afflict"? 7 letters
- "distress"? 8 letters

Hmm, what about "aggrieve"? 8 letters.

Actually, what if it's "grieve"? 6 letters! g-r-i-e-v-e
"Sorry I grieve you"? Grammatically awkward, should be "grieved".

listed → grieve? l→g, i→r, s→i, t→e, e→v, d→e... way too many changes.

I'm really stuck on rung 3. Let me try a completely different rung 2.

What if rung 2 isn't "listed"?

From "misted", other options:
- missed, minted, masted, misted

What if it's "masted"? (i→a)
- "Masted" means fitted with a mast (like a ship)
- Does "masted" mean "out of place"? No.

What if rung 2 is "minted"? (s→n)
- "Minted" means made into coins
- Does it mean "out of place"? No.

What if rung 2 is "missed"? (t→s)
- "Missed" means failed to hit/catch/attend
- Can "missed" mean "out of place"? In the sense of "the mark was missed/off target"... it's weak but possible.

Let me proceed with "missed" and see if rung 3 works better:

2. misted → missed (t→s) "out of place" (weak but possible)

3. missed → ? "Sorry I ___ you"
- missed: m-i-s-s-e-d
- Changing one letter:
- ?issed, m?ssed, mi?sed, mis?ed, miss?d, misse?

"missed" → misled (s→l) ✓ "Sorry I misled you" (deceived you)

Great! So rung 3 = misled

4. misled → ? "Complained"
- misled: m-i-s-l-e-d
- Words meaning complained (6 letters): griped, moaned, whined, carped
- From misled, one change:
- ?isled, m?sled, mi?led, mis?ed, misl?d, misle?

"misled" → molded? (s→o, e→e... wait)
m-i-s-l-e-d → m-o-l-d-e-d
m→m, i→o, s→l, l→d, e→e, d→d... that's 3 changes (i→o, s→l, l→d), no.

"misled" → misled (no change)
"misled" → misdid? (e→i) Not really a standard word.

Hmm, what about "griped"? g-r-i-p-e-d
Can I get there from misled? No, too many changes.

What about "moaned"? m-o-a-n-e-d
misled → moaned? m→m, i→o, s→a, l→n, e→e, d→d... 3 changes, no.

What about "whined"? w-h-i-n-e-d
No.

What 6-letter word meaning "complained" from "misled" with one change?

Actually, what if the word is "cried"? That's 5 letters though.

Or "sobbed"? 6 letters! s-o-b-b-e-d
"Cried/complained"
misled → sobbed? m→s, i→o, s→b, l→b, e→e, d→d... 4 changes, no.

I'm stuck again.

Let me try yet another path. What if rung 3 isn't "misled"?

From "missed", what other 6-letter words with one change that fit "Sorry I ___ you"?
- missed → messed (i→e)? "Sorry I messed you"? Should be "messed up" or "messed with".
- missed → massed? No.
- missed → mossed? No.

"messed" could work informally: "Sorry I messed [with] you" or "Sorry I messed you up"

Let me try:
3. missed → messed (i→e) "Sorry I messed [with] you" (informal)

4. messed → ? "Complained"
- messed: m-e-s-s-e-d
- One change:
- ?essed, m?ssed, me?sed, mes?ed, mess?d, messe?

"messed" → mosses? No.
"messed" → messes? (d→s) Present tense, not past.
"messed" → messed (no)
"messed" → messed...

Hmm, "messed" → moped? That's 5 letters.

What about "moaned" from "messed"?
m-e-s-s-e-d → m-o-a-n-e-d
m→m, e→o, s→a, s→n, e→e, d→d... 3 changes, no.

Still stuck.

Alright, I think I need to look at this differently. Let me consider that maybe I have the wrong word for rung 1.

What if "His eyes ___ with tears" isn't "misted"?

Other options for that phrase:
- "His eyes filled with tears" - can't get from mister
- "His eyes welled with tears" - can't get from mister
- "His eyes brimmed with tears" - can't get from mister
- "His eyes streamed with tears" - too long
- "His eyes ran with tears" - too short

Actually, what about "wept"? "His eyes wept with tears" - redundant but possible.
- mister → wept? No way.

What about "cried"?
- mister → cried? No.

I think "misted" is really the only option for rung 1.

Let me try ONE more complete path, being very careful:

mister (bottom)

↑ Replace one letter

misted (r→d) "His eyes misted with tears"

↑ Replace one letter

missed (t→s) "Means out of place" (a miss = off target = out of place)

↑ Replace one letter

misled (s→l) "Sorry I misled you" (deceived you)

↑ Replace one letter

Now I need: "Complained" from "misled"

What if the word is "murmured"? 8 letters, no.

What if it's "grumbled"? 8 letters, no.

6-letter words for complained: griped, moaned, whined, carped, sniped

From "misled" (m-i-s-l-e-d), can I get any of these with one change?

- griped: g-r-i-p-e-d - No
- moaned: m-o-a-n-e-d - No
- whined: w-h-i-n-e-d - No
- carped: c-a-r-p-e-d - No
- sniped: s-n-i-p-e-d - No

None work with one change from misled.

What if rung 3 is different?

From "missed" (m-i-s-s-e-d), what else besides "misled"?
- missed → messed (i→e)
- missed → massed (i→a)
- missed → mossed (i→o)
- missed → mussel (i→u, d→l... 2 changes)

"messed" - let's continue with this:

3. missed → messed (i→e) "Sorry I messed [with] you"

4. messed → ? "Complained"
messed (m-e-s-s-e-d)

What if it's "messed" → "mossed" (e→o)? No, mossed isn't complained.
messed → masses (e→a, d→s... 2 changes)
messed → messes (d→s)? "He messes" = he complains? No.

What about "mewed"? That's 5 letters and means complained (like a cat).

Ugh.

OK FINAL ATTEMPT. Let me look up common word ladder solutions for "mister" going up...

Actually, I just thought of something. What if the words aren't all English words in the traditional sense, or what if I'm overthinking this?

Let me try:

mister

1. misted (r→d)

2. missed (t→s)

3. misled (s→l)

4. misery (l→r, d→y... NO, 2 changes)

Wait, what if rung 4 is "misery" and the clue "Complained" refers to "in misery" or something? But that's still 2 changes from misled.

Unless... OH! What if I've been going in the wrong DIRECTION?

What if "mister" is at the BOTTOM and we're supposed to go DOWN the ladder (getting to the answer at the bottom), not up?

Let me re-read: "Follow the directions next to each word to find the answer."

The answer is probably at the TOP ("The boy ___ the vase"), and we start from "mister" at the bottom and work UP.

But what if the clues are meant to be read from top to bottom, and we work from the top down to "mister"?

Let me try that:

TOP: "The boy ___ the vase" → Answer word
↓
"The boy ___ the vase" clue word
↓
"Means out of place"
↓
"Sorry I ___ you"
↓
"Complained"
↓
"Traveled by this"
↓
"His eyes ___ with tears"
↓
mister

So working DOWN from the answer to mister:

If the top answer is what happened to the vase, like "broke" or "shattered"...

"The boy ___ the vase" - if the answer is "broke", then the word before it (going down) would be one letter different from "broke".

But we need to end at "mister" at the bottom.

Let me try working down from a hypothetical top:

Say top word is "broke" (what the boy did to the vase)
↓ one letter change
?
↓
?
↓
?
↓
?
↓
?
↓
mister

That's 6 steps down to get to mister.

Actually, counting the rungs in the image: There appear to be 7 rungs total (including mister at bottom).

So: Rung 7 (top): Answer
Rung 6: "The boy ___ the vase"
Rung 5: "Means out of place"
Rung 4: "Sorry I ___ you"
Rung 3: "Complained"
Rung 2: "Traveled by this"
Rung 1: "His eyes ___ with tears"
Rung 0 (bottom): mister

Wait, let me recount from the image description:
- Bottom: mister
- Then going up: "His eyes ___ with tears"
- Then: "Sorry I ___ you"
- Then: "Complained"
- Then: "Traveled by this"
- Then: "Means out of place"
- Then: "The boy ___ the vase"
- Top: Answer

So that's 7 words plus the answer at the very top = 8 total positions.

Let me number them:
0. mister (bottom)
1. His eyes ___ with tears
2. Sorry I ___ you
3. Complained
4. Traveled by this
5. Means out of place
6. The boy ___ the vase
7. Answer (top)

OK so I need to find words for positions 1-6, and position 7 is the final answer.

Let me try once more, very systematically:

Position 0: mister

Position 1: "His eyes ___ with tears"
- mister → misted (r→d) ✓

Position 2: "Sorry I ___ you"
- misted → ?
- Earlier I thought this should be "hurt" or "upset" but those are wrong lengths.
- What if it's actually "sad" something? No.
- What 6-letter word from "misted" meaning "hurt/upset someone"?
- misted → misted (no)
- misted → missed (t→s)... "Sorry I missed you"? That could work! "Sorry I missed you" = sorry I didn't see/meet you, or sorry I failed you.
- Yes! "Sorry I missed you" makes sense!

So Position 2: missed

Position 3: "Complained"
- missed → ?
- missed (m-i-s-s-e-d)
- 6-letter word meaning complained...
- What about "messed"? (i→e) "He messed around/complained"? Weak.
- What about "moaned"? Can't get there in one change.
- What about "griped"? Can't get there.

Hmm, from "missed", what words with one change?
- ?issed, m?ssed, mi?sed, mis?ed, miss?d, misse?

"missed" → mussed (i→u)? Mussed means disheveled, not complained.
"missed" → massed (i→a)? Massed means gathered, not complained.
"missed" → mossed (i→o)? Mossed means covered in moss, not complained.
"missed" → misled (s→l)? Misled means deceived, not complained.

Wait, what if "Complained" at position 3 leads to a word that's NOT directly meaning "complained" but is related?

Or what if I have position 2 wrong?

Let me try position 2 = misled instead:
- misted → misled? m→m, i→i, s→s, t→l, e→e, d→d... that's 1 change (t→l)!
- Wait, misted is m-i-s-t-e-d, misled is m-i-s-l-e-d
- So misted → misled is t→l, which IS one change! ✓

So maybe:
Position 1: misted
Position 2: misled (t→l) "Sorry I misled you" ✓

Position 3: "Complained" from misled
- misled (m-i-s-l-e-d)
- Need 6-letter word meaning complained
- From misled, one change:
- ?isled, m?sled, mi?led, mis?ed, misl?d, misle?

"misled" → molded (s→o, e→e... wait)
m-i-s-l-e-d → m-o-l-d-e-d requires: i→o, s→l, l→d... that's 3 changes.

"misled" → mildew (s→l, e→e, d→w... no)

What about "misled" → "misled" (no change)? No.

Ugh, I keep getting stuck at position 3.

Let me try a totally different word for position 1.

What if "His eyes ___ with tears" is NOT "misted"?

Could it be "water"? "His eyes water with tears" - redundant but possible.
- mister → water? No way.

Could it be "weep"? "His eyes weep with tears" - also redundant.
- mister → weep? No.

Could it be "cry"? Too short.

Could it be "shed"? "His eyes shed tears" - but the clue says "___ with tears", so "shed with tears" doesn't work.

I really think "misted" is correct for position 1.

Alright, I'm going to make an educated guess based on common word ladders:

mister → misted → missed → misled → misery → misery-related → broke → broken

But "misled" to "misery" is 2 changes (l→r, d→y).

UNLESS... what if one of the steps allows for 2 changes? No, the instructions say "replace one letter" each time.

OK I give up trying to solve it perfectly. Let me provide my best guess:

Based on the clues and common word ladders:

0. mister
1. misted (His eyes misted with tears)
2. missed (Sorry I missed you)
3. messed (Complained/messed around)
4. moped (Traveled by this - a moped!)
5. moped → ? (Means out of place)
6. ? → broke (The boy broke the vase)
7. broken (Answer: The vase is broken)

Wait, "moped" is 5 letters, not 6. And "broke" is 5 letters.

Let me try with 5-letter words from some point:

If position 4 is "moped" (5 letters), then position 3 must also be 5 letters.

Let me restart assuming we switch to 5 letters at some point:

0. mister (6)
1. misted (6)
2. missed (6)
3. ? (6 or 5?)

If position 3 is 5 letters, we'd need to drop a letter, but the instruction is "replace one letter", not "remove one letter".

Unless "replace with nothing" counts?

Let me try: missed (6) → miss (6→5, replace d with nothing)? "Sorry I miss you" ✓ That works!

So maybe:
0. mister (6)
1. misted (6) - His eyes misted with tears
2. missed (6) - Sorry I missed you
3. miss (5) - Sorry I miss you (present tense)
4. moss (4)? No, "Complained" doesn't fit.

This is getting too complicated. Let me just provide my best answer based on the most logical path:

Final Answer:
The word ladder solution is:
- mister
- misted (His eyes misted with tears)
- missed (Sorry I missed you)
- misled (deceived - though clue says "Complained", this might be an error or I'm missing something)
- [uncertain]
- [uncertain]
- broke (The boy broke the vase)
- broken (Answer: What happened to the vase - it broke/is broken)

Actually, let me reconsider the final answer. The question asks "What happened to the man's vase?" and "The boy ___ the vase."

If the boy "broke" the vase, then what happened is the vase broke or is broken.

Given the word ladder ends with "The boy ___ the vase", the blank is likely "broke", and the answer to "What happened?" is that it broke.

But since this is a word ladder ending in an answer, the final answer might be the last word in the ladder, which would be after "broke".

If "broke" is position 6, then position 7 (the answer) might be "broken" or "break" or something similar.

Given the context "What happened to the man's vase?", the answer is likely "broken" or "broke".

I'll go with broken as the final answer.

Actually wait - let me reconsider the entire ladder one more time with fresh eyes:

What if the ladder uses these words:
- mister
- mister → mister (no, need change)

Common word ladder from mister:
- mister → mister (no)
- mister → mister variants...

Actually, I just realized I should search for this specific worksheet to see if there's a known solution.

Let me provide my final best guess:

The answer to "What happened to the man's vase?" is that it broke or it is broken.

The word "broke" fits "The boy ___ the vase" (The boy broke the vase).

So the final answer is likely broken or broke.

Given typical word ladder puzzles, the answer is probably broken.

Final Answer:
broken