What is the highest-scoring 3-letter word starting with K?

KEX scores 14 points, the highest of the 39 valid 3-letter words starting with K in the SOWPODS dictionary.

How many 3-letter words starting with K are there in Scrabble?

There are 39 valid 3-letter words starting with K in the SOWPODS (international) dictionary.

How many points is the letter K worth in Scrabble?

K is worth 5 points on a standard Scrabble tile.

3 Letter Words Starting with K

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July 30, 2026 7 min read Word Finder

There are 39 valid 3-letter words starting with K in the SOWPODS dictionary. K is a mid-to-high value tile worth 5 points, and the highest-scoring option here is KEX at 14 points. That's below average for 3-letter words starting with a letter — most letters in this slot manage around 54.

Why K at the Start Matters

💡 Tile Value

K's 5 points are a reasonable chunk of a 3-letter word's total score without being so rare that plays are hard to find.

Because you place the first letter, 3-letter words starting with K work well for parallel plays — starting a new word alongside one already on the board without touching it.

Notable Words

Highest scorer: KEX is worth 14 points — K's 5 points plus the rest of the tiles in the word. It's the play to look for if you're building toward a big turn.

Worth memorising first: KED (8 points) is one of the lower scorers here, which usually means it's a more familiar word — a safer one to keep in your working vocabulary than the obscure high scorers.

How many options: 39 valid 3-letter words starting with K exist in SOWPODS — fewer than the ~54 typical for this slot, so it's realistic to learn most of the useful ones.

Try This on the Board

🧩 Worked Example

Play KEX through a Double Word Score square and it scores 28 points instead of 14 — worth chasing when you have the tiles and the board opens up that square.