What is the difference between shortest distance and shortest path?
As @randomA already indicated in a comment, a shortest path from $v$ to $w$ is a sequence of vertices (that describes a path from $v$ to $w$, which is shortest among such sequences).
The shortest distance on the other hand is the length of a shortest path, i.e. a number.

As a sidenote, be aware that there can be multiple shortest paths (but only one shortest distance). Thus, you might want to check, if the the question requires you to find one or all of them.