5 Letter Words Starting With L

There are 812 valid 5 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 5-Letter Words

US Scrabble (NWL)

labby - 12 points

UK Scrabble (CSW)

labby - 12 points

Words With Friends

labby - 14 points

Top 20 Highest-Scoring 5 Letter Words Starting With l

Point values shown for US Scrabble, UK Scrabble, and Words With Friends. The average across this full 812 word list is 25.8 combined points.

Rank Word US Scrabble UK Scrabble WWF Points Total
#1 laang 6 6 9 21
#2 laari 5 5 6 16
#3 laban 7 7 10 24
#4 labba 9 9 12 30
🏆 #5 labby 12 12 14 38
#6 labda 8 8 10 26
#7 label 7 7 10 24
#8 labia 7 7 9 23
#9 labis 7 7 9 23
#10 labor 7 7 9 23
#11 labra 7 7 9 23
#12 lacca 9 9 12 30
#13 laced 8 8 10 26
#14 lacer 7 7 9 23
#15 laces 7 7 9 23
#16 lacet 7 7 9 23
#17 lacey 10 10 11 31
#18 lache 10 10 11 31
#19 lacis 7 7 9 23
#20 lacks 11 11 13 35

Where 5 Letter Words Fit on the Board

At 5 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 5 letter words starting with L for a more practical middle ground.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the highest-scoring 5 letter word starting with l?

labby — worth 38 combined points (US Scrabble: 12, UK Scrabble: 12, Words With Friends: 14).

How many 5 letter words start with l?

812 valid words, combining entries from NWL2023, CSW24, and the Words With Friends dictionary.

Are 5 letter words realistic to actually play?

Only occasionally — you'd need most of your rack plus letters already on the board to reach 5 tiles. They're worth knowing for the rare bingo-extension play, but for regular turns, shorter l words will come up far more often.