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If you are not so sure that it was one of the above, here are more specifics that may help.

The Bread Didn’t Rise Well

Yeast

Was the yeast fresh? Did you dissolve it according to the manufacturer’s instructions? Was it exposed to water that was too hot, too cold? That had salt, or too much sweetener?

Rising

Is the bread grayish and strongtasting? Is the crust thick and the inside crumbly? These are signs that the dough rose too long or too warm. Perhaps you used too much yeast.

Does the bread have a somewhat flat taste? The dough may not have had enough time to ripen. (If that’s it, the bread will stale quickly too.) This can happen if the temperature is too low or the time given is too little; or possibly the yeast was old or its measure short.

Proofing

Is the bread coarse and holey near the top? Maybe it rose too long in the pan. Did it (yoik!) collapse? Maybe you jarred it as you put it into the oven, overproofed or not.

Is the loaf undersized and dense? Here’s a tricky one: are the bottom edges of the loaf rounded rather than square like the pan? Did the crust lift away from the loaf and/or seem darker than you expected? If it’s a hearth-style loaf, is the bottom rounded and the loaf cracked around the side? Very likely the solution to all these problems is to let the shaped loaf rise warmer or longer.

Flour

Only hard wheat bread flour has the gluten content to make bread rise. All-purpose and pastry flours do not, nor do flours made from anything other than wheat (see this page). Is the slice dense and hard? Perhaps you simply used too much flour. Next time measure very carefully, and when kneading, try not to add any flour at all on the board, even if the dough seems really sticky at first.

Other ingredients

Adding wheat germ, milk powder, or raw honey can reduce your loaves’ size, especially if the bread rises longer than 4 hours total.

Kneading

Did you knead long enough, keeping the dough in a ball and pushing into the center? Did you keep at it for the full count or time? Did you overknead? Not impossible, but unlikely by hand—and easy with a food processor. Look at the slice: is the texture coarse and holey? Next time work it less.

Pan size

Is the loaf squat, but inside, the slice is plenty airy? It sounds like the pan was too big.

Crust Problems

Is the crust pale, thick, and tough?

Probably the oven temperature was too low.

Did you use the sweetener and/or milk the recipe called for? Breads without sweetener or milk are best when baked with steam at a higher temperature (see this page). If you did include sweetener, but you can’t taste it in the bread, the dough may have risen too long or got too warm, or both.

Is the crust terribly dark?

Is it dry inside? It just baked too long. If there are dark areas, or if the top or bottom are particularly affected, your oven has a hot spot. Rotate the bread partway through the baking or move it down or up in the oven to compensate.

If the bread has a lot of milk or milk products or sweetener, the crust will brown deeply perforce. Bake at a lower heat, usually 325°F.

Are there dark spots?

Condensing steam dropping on the loaves causes these.

Did the top crust lift off?

If the bottom edges are rounded, as well, probably the bread was underproofed.

The dough may have been too stiff because of too much flour.

The dough may have dried out and crusted over during the final rising period.

Slightly overproofed bread made from rather slack dough will often collect a pocket of air just under the crust. Slashing helps, but best of all is not to overproof.

Does the crust have blisters?

These can be caused by not deflating the dough completely when you round and shape the loaf; by overproofing a dough that was underfermented; by letting condensed steam drip down on the loaf while it proofs.

Crumb Problems (All that is not crust is crumb)

Is the crumb coarse and holey?

Big holes in an otherwise even crumb