How to ctrl+click without right clicking

Try holding the Command button instead. A Command click is a middle click. Control clicks give you a right click.

What kind of Mac? If you're using a Magic Mouse you can use a program like MagicPrefs to turn a three finger click into a Command click. If you're using the Magic Trackpad or the built-in trackpad on a MacBook/MacBook Pro there is a program called MiddleClick I've used that adds a three finger tap/click ability to map to the Command click.

Here's how you can get ⌃ Control+arrow keys to work like you describe. Copy the following property list into ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict (you can create the directory if it doesn't already exist):

{
    "^\UF703" = ("moveWordForward:", "moveWordForward:", "moveWordBackward:");
    "^$\UF703" = ("moveWordForwardAndModifySelection:", "moveWordForwardAndModifySelection:", "moveWordBackwardAndModifySelection:");
}

This will set up ⌃ Control+arrow to navigate to the beginning of the next word (by using OS X's normal navigation three times: to the end of the current word, end of the next word, then back to the beginning of the next word). I also included a version that works with ⇧ Shift so you can select text as you go.

Caveat: this will only work in Cocoa apps, but I think the normal ⌥ Option+arrow navigation does too. Also, make sure to relaunch your apps!