CAREST - poetic form of Caressed
CARETS - insertion marks used by proofreaders
CARTES - menus
CASTER - a swiveling wheel
CATERS - furnishes food or entertainment
CESTRA - painting tools used in ancient Greece and Rome
CRATES - packing boxes
CREATS - East Indian herbs used medicinally
CRESTA - a famous Swiss sled run
CRETAS - varieties of chalk
REACTS - acts in response to a stimulus
RECAST - to form or fashion anew
SCRETA - Karl Screta, Bohemian painter
STACER - a town in Indiana, near Evansville
TRACES - very small quantities
TRESCA - a kind of romping dance or revel
AER - variant form of AIR
ARE
EAR
ERA
RAE - Proper name, usually female
REA - variant form of REI, a portuguese form of money; also, in Latin, the word for “defendant”
I suppose I could exclude proper nouns from this game, and I probably should. My OP says “standard English words.” I guess how loosely you interpret that is up to you.