5 Letter Words That Start With K

109 words Words by letter Checked 9 Oct 2026

Here are all 109 5 letter words that start with K in a standard word-game dictionary, sorted so the everyday words come first. Use the Wordle helper below to add letters you know, letters to leave out and a pattern, or scan the common words with their meanings.

K has 109 five-letter words. The silent K is a big theme: "known", "knife", "knock", "knees" and "knots" each open with a silent K.

That is a useful Wordle clue. If K is first and N is second, you are probably dealing with a silent K word. "Kayak" is a fun find because it reads the same backwards. "Kneel" and "knack" are less common but worth knowing.

5-letter words starting with K: 109
Most used: known
Most common last letter: S 37 words

5 letter words starting with K: Wordle helper

Type the letters you know. In Pattern, use _ for an unknown letter (for example k_a_e). "Has letters" keeps words that use those letters anywhere; "Leave out" removes words with those letters.

Pattern Has letters Leave out Ends with Contains Sort

Most common 5-letter words that start with K

Ranked by how often the word appears in English text. "Type" is the word's main part of speech.

#	Word	Meaning	Type
1	known	apprehended with certainty	adj.
2	knows	be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about	verb
3	keeps	keep in a certain state, position, or activity; e.g.,	verb
4	kinds	a category of things distinguished by some common characteristic or quality	noun
5	kelly	United States circus clown (1898-1979)	noun
6	kings	a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom	noun
7	knife	edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle	noun
8	knock	deliver a sharp blow or push :	verb
9	kills	cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly	verb
10	knees	hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the...	noun
11	kicks	drive or propel with the foot	verb
12	kitty	the combined stakes of the betters	noun
13	karma	(Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation	noun
14	kerry	no short meaning listed
15	knots	a tight cluster of people or things	noun
16	kappa	the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet	noun
17	kudos	an expression of approval and commendation	noun
18	kraft	strong wrapping paper made from pulp processed with a sulfur solution	noun
19	kyrie	no short meaning listed
20	knack	a special way of doing something	noun
21	kilos	one thousand grams; the basic unit of mass adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites	noun
22	kayak	a small canoe consisting of a light frame made watertight with animal skins; used by Eskimos	noun
23	kneel	rest one's weight on one's knees	verb
24	kiddo	no short meaning listed
25	kinks	a painful muscle spasm especially in the neck or back (`rick' and `wrick' are British)	noun
26	khaki	of a yellowish brown color	adj.
27	koala	sluggish tailless Australian arboreal marsupial with grey furry ears and coat	noun
28	kebab	cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables	noun
29	knobs	a circular rounded projection or protuberance	noun
30	kanji	no short meaning listed
31	kiosk	small area set off by walls for special use	noun
32	kites	increase the amount (of a check) fraudulently	verb
33	knoll	a small natural hill	noun
34	keyed	identify as in botany or biology, for example	verb
35	kiwis	climbing vine native to China; cultivated in New Zealand for its fuzzy edible fruit with green meat	noun
36	knelt	rest one's weight on one's knees	verb
37	kilns	a furnace for firing or burning or drying such things as porcelain or bricks	noun
38	karat	the unit of measurement for the proportion of gold in an alloy	noun
39	krill	shrimp-like planktonic crustaceans; major source of food for e.g. baleen whales	noun
40	karts	no short meaning listed
41	khans	a title given to rulers or other important people in Asian countries	noun
42	knits	a fabric made by knitting	noun
43	knell	ring as in announcing death	verb
44	kooky	informal or slang terms for mentally irregular	adj.
45	knead	make uniform	verb
46	karst	no short meaning listed
47	knave	a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel	noun
48	kendo	no short meaning listed
49	kalam	no short meaning listed
50	kiddy	a young child	noun
51	kissy	no short meaning listed
52	kneed	no short meaning listed
53	krone	the basic unit of money in Norway	noun
54	kilts	a knee-length pleated tartan skirt worn by men as part of the traditional dress in the Highlands of northern...	noun
55	kazoo	a toy wind instrument that has a membrane that makes a sound when you hum into the mouthpiece	noun
56	ketch	a sailing vessel with two masts; the mizzen is forward of the rudderpost	noun
57	kooks	someone regarded as eccentric or crazy and standing out from a group	noun
58	keels	a projection or ridge that suggests a keel	noun
59	kafir	an offensive and insulting term for any Black African	noun
60	karoo	no short meaning listed
61	kohls	a cosmetic preparation used by women in Egypt and Arabia to darken the edges of their eyelids	noun
62	kerns	United States composer of musical comedies (1885-1945)	noun
63	krona	the basic unit of money in Sweden	noun
64	khadi	a coarse homespun cotton cloth made in India	noun
65	kurta	a loose collarless shirt worn by many people on the Indian subcontinent (usually with a salwar or churidars...	noun
66	kaput	destroyed or killed	adj.
67	kefir	no short meaning listed
68	kudzu	fast-growing vine from eastern Asia having tuberous starchy roots and hairy trifoliate leaves and racemes of...	noun
69	klutz	(Yiddish) a clumsy dolt	noun
70	kugel	no short meaning listed
71	kluge	no short meaning listed
72	kasha	boiled or baked buckwheat	noun
73	kerbs	an edge between a sidewalk and a roadway consisting of a line of curbstones (usually forming part of a gutter)	noun
74	kiang	wild ass of Tibet and Mongolia	noun
75	kauri	resin of the kauri trees of New Zealand	noun
76	kraal	a village of huts for native Africans in southern Africa; usually surrounded by a stockade	noun
77	kulak	no short meaning listed
78	kalpa	no short meaning listed
79	koine	a Greek dialect that flourished under the Roman Empire	noun
80	kabob	cubes of meat marinated and cooked on a skewer usually with vegetables	noun

5 letter words that start with K and end with S

knows
keeps
kinds
kings
kills
knees
kicks
knots
kudos
kilos
kinks
knobs
kites
kiwis
kilns
karts
khans
knits
kilts
kooks
keels
kohls
kerns
kerbs
kirks
kemps
karns
kames
kanes
koans

5 letter words that start with K and end with Y

kelly
kitty
kerry
kooky
kiddy
kissy
kilty
kicky

5 letter words that start with K and end with E

knife
kyrie
knave
krone
kluge
koine
kibbe
kopje

More 5 letter words with K

Less common words that are still valid in most word games.

krait
kirks
kroon
klong
kilim
kloof
kukri
kemps
kabab
karns
kames
kempt
kanes
kapok
kilty
kibbe
kicky
knish
koans
kvass
katas
kurus
kudus
keens
kivas
kabar
kales
kopje
korat

Questions people ask

How many 5-letter words start with K?

This list has 109 5-letter words starting with K, taken from a standard word-game dictionary and limited to words that appear in real English text.

What are the most common 5-letter words that start with K?

known, knows, keeps, kinds, kelly, kings, knife, knock are the most used in everyday English.

What is a good Wordle start word that begins with K?

Pick a common word with several different vowels and frequent letters. From this list, knife, kudos, kyrie, kilos, kanji all use five different letters and at least two vowels.

Source: the ENABLE word list (a public-domain dictionary used for word games), ranked by how often each word appears in English text (the open wordfreq project), with short meanings from Princeton WordNet. Offensive words are left out.

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