Word Lists · K + O
5 Letter Words With K and O
Every five-letter word that contains both K and O, in any position — answer-eligible words flagged in green, tap any word to play.
How Many 5-Letter Words Have K and O?
The board narrows to 342 words once K and O are both confirmed present — 39 of them live in the answer pool. Play OAKEN next and you clear about 94.6% of what is left.
Placement on this pair leans hard one way: O occupies the 2nd slot in 177 of 342 words, 52% of the list — JOKER, KOALA, POKER, POLKA all follow that shape. The other 165 words spread across the remaining four squares.
The two letters touch more often than you would expect: 187 of the 342 words run them together (AWOKE, BLOKE, BROKE, BROOK). That adjacency is a cheap thing to test once either letter is locked.
73% of these words carry two or more vowels, so vowel coverage is largely settled — spend the remaining guesses on consonants.
Green-dotted words are answer-eligible — the everyday vocabulary the daily puzzle actually draws from — while hollow-dotted words are valid guesses you can play but that will never be the solution. Flip on Answers only to focus on the 39 words that can truly win the board.
Best Wordle Words With K and O
When K and O are both in play, the strongest guess keeps them and rules out as many remaining answers as possible. These three score highest across all 2296 possible answers:
- 01 OAKEN — eliminates about 94.6% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 STOKE — eliminates about 94.3% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 TOKEN — eliminates about 94.1% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by First Letter
Openings are well distributed: 23 different first letters, none holding more than 26% of the 342 words. The first-letter chips help most once a green tile has actually fixed square one.
K/O Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
Across 1916 puzzles this shape has supplied 34 answers, from CROAK (#33) through to TOKEN (#1824, 2026-06-17). CLOCK (#1788), CROCK (#1776), AWOKE (#1598) landed in between. Still unused: 6 answer-eligible words.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1824 | 2026-06-17 | TOKEN |
| #1788 | 2026-05-12 | CLOCK |
| #1776 | 2026-04-30 | CROCK |
| #1598 | 2025-11-03 | AWOKE |
| #1508 | 2025-08-05 | STORK |
| #1406 | 2025-04-25 | KNOWN |
| #1337 | 2025-02-15 | CROOK |
| #1304 | 2025-01-13 | CLOAK |
| #1258 | 2024-11-28 | CHOCK |
| #1189 | 2024-09-20 | SMOKE |
| #1135 | 2024-07-28 | SMOCK |
| #950 | 2024-01-25 | BLOCK |
Never used as an answer
6 answer-eligible K/O words have never been the solution: OAKEN, SHOCK, SHOOK, SMOKY, SPOOK, STOKE . Wordle avoided repeats entirely for its first 1,688 puzzles and only began reusing old answers in February 2026 — 24 times so far. An unused word is still the likelier bet, just no longer a certainty; see how repeats work for the full picture.
The other 303 words on this list are valid guesses the game accepts but never chooses as a solution. They still make useful probes for placing K and O, but when you guess to win, a green-dotted answer word is the smarter pick.
Where K and O Land in 5-Letter Words
The whole puzzle now is placement, so here is exactly where each letter tends to sit across the 342 words. Try the busiest square first.
| Position | Words with K here | Words with O here |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 90 | 15 |
| 2nd | 17 | 177 |
| 3rd | 65 | 115 |
| 4th | 131 | 56 |
| 5th | 54 | 33 |
Play a candidate that seats each letter in its busiest square and one of two good things happens: a tile turns green and you have locked a position, or it turns yellow again and you have eliminated the single most likely slot in one move.
How to Use These Words to Win Wordle
- Lead with the busiest square. K in slot 4 covers 131 of these 342 words and O in slot 2 covers 177 — try that shape before rarer placements.
- Favor distinct letters early. 239 of the 342 words here use five different letters and 103 repeat one.
- Then check for repeats. Watch for repeats: 67 words on this list use K or O twice (BROOK, CROOK, KIOSK, KNOCK). A single yellow tile does not rule out a second copy of the same letter.
- Lean toward an unused word. Repeats stayed at zero until February 2026 and number just 24 in 1916 puzzles, so the 6 never-used K/O words above remain the stronger bet.
Full strategy lives in the how-to-play guide, and you can practice any time on the unlimited Wordle board.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many 5-letter words have K and O?
There are 342 valid five-letter words that contain both K and O in any position, and 39 of them can be a Wordle answer. Turn on "Answers only" above to narrow the list to answer-eligible words.
What is the best word to guess with K and O confirmed?
OAKEN — it keeps both letters and still eliminates about 94.6% of the remaining answer pool. OAKEN, STOKE, TOKEN are the top three by that measure. See more best Wordle starting words.
Where do K and O usually sit in these words?
K most often lands in the 4th position (131 of 342 words) and O in the 2nd (177). That is a strong enough lean to guess on directly.
Which K/O words have been Wordle answers?
34 of them, out of 1916 puzzles so far. The most recent was TOKEN (#1824) on 2026-06-17, and the first was CROAK on 2021-07-22. 6 answer-eligible words have never been used, including OAKEN, SHOCK, SHOOK, SMOKY. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once K and O show as present you must reuse them, so this is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 239 of the 342 words use five distinct letters and 103 repeat one, which matters because hard mode will not let you drop a confirmed letter to test elsewhere — see the how-to-play guide.
Are there 5-letter words with K and O next to each other?
187 of the 342 words place K and O in neighbouring squares: ALKOS, AMOKS, ASKOI, ASKOS, ATOKE, ATOKS, among others. The remaining 155 keep at least one square between them.
How many K/O words have no repeated letters?
239 of the 342. Those are the ones that reveal the most board per guess, so they are the better probes early on. The other 103 double up on some letter, and 73% of the full list carries two or more vowels. For a full clue-by-clue solve, send your board to the Wordle Solver.