3 Letter Words That Start With L

58 words in this list, every one checked against the YAWL dictionary.

Use these letters in the Word Finder to unscramble them into new words.

Tap any word to copy it.

3 Letter Words 58

Which of these words score the most in Scrabble?

The highest scoring words from this list, ranked by Scrabble letter values.

Browse Words by First Letter

Word Finders by Length

Holding a rack rather than browsing? Most games are won at four, six, and seven tiles, so start with the 4 Letter Word Finder, the 6 Letter Word Finder, or the 7 Letter Word Finder, then pick any other length below.

This page lists every one of the 58 three letter words that start with L. Type the letters you hold into the filter above and the list narrows instantly to the plays that fit your rack, and sort by score or alphabet whenever it helps.

The words the letter has

L opens a friendly, flexible group. The everyday words lead: LAB, LAD, LAG, LAP, LAW, LAY, LED, LEG, LET, LID, LIE, LIP, LIT, LOB, LOG, LOT, LOW, and LUG. A run of vowel light plays follows, LAR, LAS, LAT, LAV, LEA, LEI, LEU, LEV, LEY, LIB, LIN, LIS, LOO, LOP, LUM, and LYE, and the high scoring LAX, LEX, LOX, LUX, and LEZ round the set out with a heavy tile each.

Scoring the best three letter words starting with L

The L is worth only a point, so the top scores come from the letters it carries. LEZ leads at 12 points on its Z, and LAX, LEX, LOX, and LUX all reach 10 thanks to the X. The everyday words score modestly, but their strength is placement: a one point L slides in beside almost anything, which makes these words easy to fit onto a crowded board.

Short words in Scrabble

Three letter words are the glue of a strong game. The L set here is especially useful for hooks, since so many longer words take a leading or trailing L. Knowing the full list lets you turn a spare L into a scoring play, bridge two words on the board, and open a bonus square for a bigger move next turn.

How the count is made

Every figure on this page is recomputed from one pinned dictionary on each build, never written in by hand, and the list is a direct slice of that same file. That is why the count in the heading, the numbers in the copy, and the results from the filter can never disagree. If the total looks different from another site, this is the honest YAWL figure, and the dictionary page sets out the source list and its license. When you would rather rearrange a whole rack than browse by letter, send your letters to the three letter word finder.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many three letter words start with L?
There are 58 three letter words that start with L in this list, out of 1,255 three letter words in YAWL overall. Every count here is generated from the dictionary at build time, so it always matches what the filter finds.
What are some useful three letter words starting with L?
LAB, LAD, LAP, LAW, LAY, LED, LEG, LET, LID, LIE, LIP, LIT, LOG, LOT, and LOW are the most familiar. Handy short plays like LAR, LEA, LEK, and LYE are worth learning for a tight board. Filter this list by the letters you hold to see only the plays that fit.
Which three letter word starting with L scores the most in Scrabble?
LEZ leads at 12 points on its Z, and LAX, LEX, LOX, and LUX all reach 10 on the X. The plainer L words score less, but their real value is flexibility, since the one point L pairs easily with almost any letter.
Why is a word I expected not on this list?
These pages are built from YAWL, a public domain list made for word games, which leaves out proper nouns, abbreviations, and hyphenated forms. Names starting with L will not appear as a result. The [dictionary page](/dictionary/) publishes the exact list, its license, and its full counts so you can check any word against the source.