Word Lists · L + R
5 Letter Words With L and R
Every five-letter word that contains both L and R, in any position — answer-eligible words flagged in green, tap any word to play.
How Many 5-Letter Words Have L and R?
427 words contain both L and R, 114 of them answer-eligible. If you need a follow-up that keeps both letters, ALTER does the most work — about 97% of the remaining pool cleared.
This is one of the flatter pairs on the site: no square holds more than 29% of the words for either letter. Position data will not carry you — narrow by the greys you have already collected.
56 words on this list place L and R in neighbouring squares, BURLY, CURLY, EARLY, GIRLY included — a pattern worth probing before you assume the two are far apart.
71% 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 114 words that can truly win the board.
Best Wordle Words With L and R
When L and R 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 ALTER — eliminates about 97% of remaining answers on average.
- 02 LATER — eliminates about 97% of remaining answers on average.
- 03 ALERT — eliminates about 96.9% of remaining answers on average.
The Full List, Grouped by First Letter
L·117 R·72 B·27 — the three biggest opening groups, covering 51% of the list across 22 letters overall.
L/R Words That Have Been Wordle Answers
The daily puzzle has drawn on this shape heavily: 97 words with L and R have been answers, leaving 19 answer-eligible words unused. Recent ones include DRYLY (#1909), RULER (#1901), GRILL (#1887), REPLY (#1871), the latest 10 days ago on 2026-09-10. The run goes back to TRAWL on 2021-07-27.
| Puzzle | Date | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| #1909 | 2026-09-10 | DRYLY |
| #1901 | 2026-09-02 | RULER |
| #1887 | 2026-08-19 | GRILL |
| #1871 | 2026-08-03 | REPLY |
| #1859 | 2026-07-22 | LORRY |
| #1822 | 2026-06-15 | BROIL |
| #1775 | 2026-04-29 | RURAL |
| #1684 | 2026-01-28 | CRUEL |
| #1668 | 2026-01-12 | TRIAL |
| #1609 | 2025-11-14 | LURID |
| #1602 | 2025-11-07 | PERIL |
| #1593 | 2025-10-29 | GLARE |
Never used as an answer
19 answer-eligible L/R words have never been the solution: BLUER, BRAWL, COLOR, DRAWL, FILER, FLIER, GIRLY, LEPER, LURCH, LYRIC, PALER, PLIER, RALLY, RALPH, RENAL, RIFLE, SLURP, VALOR , among others. 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 313 words on this list are valid guesses the game accepts but never chooses as a solution. They still make useful probes for placing L and R, but when you guess to win, a green-dotted answer word is the smarter pick.
Where L and R Land in 5-Letter Words
The whole puzzle now is placement, so here is exactly where each letter tends to sit across the 427 words. Try the busiest square first.
| Position | Words with L here | Words with R here |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 117 | 72 |
| 2nd | 52 | 70 |
| 3rd | 63 | 109 |
| 4th | 90 | 80 |
| 5th | 124 | 102 |
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. L in slot 5 covers 124 of these 427 words and R in slot 3 covers 109 — try that shape before rarer placements.
- Favor distinct letters early. 341 of the 427 words here use five different letters and 86 repeat one.
- Then check for repeats. 25 of these words double up on L or R — DRILL, DROLL, FRILL, GRILL among them. If your clues fit but nothing on the shortlist works, a repeat is the usual culprit.
- Lean toward an unused word. Repeats stayed at zero until February 2026 and number just 24 in 1916 puzzles, so the 19 never-used L/R 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 L and R?
There are 427 valid five-letter words that contain both L and R in any position, and 114 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 L and R confirmed?
ALTER — it keeps both letters and still eliminates about 97% of the remaining answer pool. ALTER, LATER, ALERT are the top three by that measure. See more best Wordle starting words.
Where do L and R usually sit in these words?
L most often lands in the 5th position (124 of 427 words) and R in the 3rd (109). Neither is dominant, so treat it as a tiebreaker rather than a rule.
Which L/R words have been Wordle answers?
97 of them, out of 1916 puzzles so far. The most recent was DRYLY (#1909) on 2026-09-10, and the first was TRAWL on 2021-07-27. 19 answer-eligible words have never been used, including BLUER, BRAWL, COLOR, DRAWL. Browse the full past Wordle answers archive.
Do these words work in hard mode?
Yes. Once L and R show as present you must reuse them, so this is exactly your hard-mode candidate set. 341 of the 427 words use five distinct letters and 86 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 L and R next to each other?
56 of the 427 words place L and R in neighbouring squares: ARLED, ARLES, BIRLE, BIRLS, BURLS, BURLY, among others. The remaining 371 keep at least one square between them.
How many L/R words have no repeated letters?
341 of the 427. Those are the ones that reveal the most board per guess, so they are the better probes early on. The other 86 double up on some letter, and 71% of the full list carries two or more vowels. For a full clue-by-clue solve, send your board to the Wordle Solver.