What is the highest-scoring 8-letter word starting with K?

KOLKHOZY scores 31 points, the highest of the 646 valid 8-letter words starting with K in the SOWPODS dictionary.

How many 8-letter words starting with K are there in Scrabble?

There are 646 valid 8-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.

8 Letter Words Starting with K

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July 30, 2026 7 min read Word Finder

8-letter words starting with K: 646 valid plays. K is a mid-to-high value tile worth 5 points. The top scorer is KOLKHOZY (31 points). For context, the typical letter in this position gives you around 1986 words, so K comes in below that.

Why K at the Start Matters

💡 Tile Value

K's 5 points are a reasonable chunk of a 8-letter word's total score without being so rare that plays are hard to find.

Because you place the first letter, 8-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: KOLKHOZY is worth 31 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: KEFFIYEH (24 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: 646 valid 8-letter words starting with K exist in SOWPODS — fewer than the ~1986 typical for this slot, so it's realistic to learn most of the useful ones.

Try This on the Board

🧩 Worked Example

Play KOLKHOZY through a Double Word Score square and it scores 62 points instead of 31 — worth chasing when you have the tiles and the board opens up that square.