I have a single column of words on a spreadsheet. All of various
lengths. For instance:

Dogs
Horses
Natural
Rattlers
Mice

I want to determine the length of each word and, based on length,
assign a point value as follows:

4 letters - 1 point
5 letters - 2 points
6 letters - 3 points
7 letters - 5 points
8 or more letters - 11 points

I'm using Office 97.

Here is a simple, if not elegant, way to do it.
In a new column, starting with a cell on the same row as the first
word in your list,enter
=IF(LEN(A1)=4, "1 point", IF(LEN(A1)=5, "2 points", IF(LEN(A1)=6,"3
points",IF(LEN(A1)=7,"5 points", IF(LEN(A1)>7, "11 points", "0
points")))))
replacing A1 with the cell reference for the first word in your list,
and pressing the tick symbol or ENTER to complete. Then highlighting
this first cell down to the bottom row of your list, and pressing CTRL
D you'll copy the formula to cells relating to each word in your list.

Hi, summer. The file at www.vbaexpress.com/EE/wordvalues.xls uses a
vlookup based on a named range. Check out both worksheets in the file,
and the link in the file for complete instructions on using the
vlookup formula.

freagairt's answer is quickest, but if you were to decide to change
the values of words, then you'd have to change the formula. With the
vlookup method, you just change the table on the DataLookup sheet.

I hope this helps!

This looks like Boggle scoring.  Just out of curiosity, what project are you doing?

freagairt's solution is very easy--should take you about a minute to implement.

Thanks freagait-ga and dreamboat-ga. Both solutions seem to work fine.

I had used the help feature in Excel before I had ask my question, but
it didn't show LEN() as a valid function.

Hi biophysicist-ga. It is Boggle scoring. I'm not working on a
project. I'm just an avid player. I use an online solver and paste the
words into Excel to show the points. I also use the saved lists to
improve my Boggle vocabulary.