3 Letter Words Starting With L
There are 107 valid 3 letter words that start with L, drawn from NWL2023, CSW24, and Words With Friends. Sorted below by score, with the single highest scorer called out.
Highest Scoring 3-Letter Words
US Scrabble (NWL)
laz - 12 points
UK Scrabble (CSW)
laz - 12 points
Words With Friends
laz - 13 points
3 Letter Words (107)
View all words starting with LTop 20 Highest-Scoring 3 Letter Words Starting With l
Point values shown for US Scrabble, UK Scrabble, and Words With Friends. The average across this full 107 word list is 17.4 combined points.
| Rank | Word | US Scrabble | UK Scrabble | WWF Points | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | lab | 5 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| #2 | lac | 5 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| #3 | lad | 4 | 4 | 5 | 13 |
| #4 | lag | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 |
| #5 | lah | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| #6 | lai | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| #7 | lak | 7 | 7 | 8 | 22 |
| #8 | lam | 5 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| #9 | lan | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| #10 | lao | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| #11 | lap | 5 | 5 | 7 | 17 |
| #12 | lar | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| #13 | las | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| #14 | lat | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| #15 | lav | 6 | 6 | 8 | 20 |
| #16 | law | 6 | 6 | 7 | 19 |
| #17 | lax | 10 | 10 | 11 | 31 |
| #18 | lay | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 |
| 🏆 #19 | laz | 12 | 12 | 13 | 37 |
| #20 | lbf | 8 | 8 | 10 | 26 |
Where 3 Letter Words Fit on the Board
At 3 letters, a word almost always uses your entire rack plus tiles already on the board these are realistically bingo-adjacent plays rather than everyday moves, which is why the list leans heavily on compound and suffixed forms (-nesses, -ation, -izing). If you're looking for words you can play more often, shorter lengths starting with L will give you far more flexible options try 3 letter words starting with L for a more practical middle ground.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest-scoring 3 letter word starting with l?
laz — worth 37 combined points (US Scrabble: 12, UK Scrabble: 12, Words With Friends: 13).
How many 3 letter words start with l?
107 valid words, combining entries from NWL2023, CSW24, and the Words With Friends dictionary.
Are 3 letter words realistic to actually play?
Only occasionally — you'd need most of your rack plus letters already on the board to reach 3 tiles. They're worth knowing for the rare bingo-extension play, but for regular turns, shorter l words will come up far more often.