5 Letter Words Ends with K

Letters in the open positions

Looking at the fourth letter, “C” (98, 27%), “N” (72, 19.8%), “A” (44, 12.1%), “E” (28, 7.7%) appear most often. This measures the character immediately before the final letter, rather than the word's first internal letter. Percentages use all 363 matching words as the denominator.

Words ending in K most often finish in CK, so BLACK, CLOCK and QUICK share a shape, while NK and AK endings give THINK and BREAK. This page gathers the most useful examples and explains the spelling patterns behind them, so you can narrow down a puzzle quickly. It also helps to see the words grouped by ending, because the same few patterns keep returning.

Endings Worth Knowing

A handful of endings do most of the work. The CK ending gives BLACK, CLOCK and QUICK; the NK ending gives THINK, THANK and DRINK; the AK ending gives BREAK, SPEAK and STEAK. Learning them lets you jump from the last letter to a short list of likely words.

Useful five-letter words

THINK, THANK, BLACK, CHECK and BREAK are the entries you are most likely to meet in a puzzle. SPEAK, TRACK and QUICK are worth keeping in reserve.

• THINK
• THANK
• BLACK
• CHECK
• BREAK

How to Narrow Down Words Ending in K

C is the first thing to test in the fourth box, since the CK pairing covers a large part of the group. N and A follow, giving you the NK and AK words. With the ending settled, the first two boxes are where the remaining choices are made.

Playing K Words in Scrabble

In Scrabble, K is worth five points, so it is one of the most valuable tiles on the rack, and a good word can swing a game. Knowing words like THINK, THANK and BLACK makes it easier to use the tile when it turns up late in a game.

Common starting letters in words ending in K

The most frequent starting letter is S, appearing in 88 words (24.2%). This shows how the words sharing the K ending are distributed across different beginnings.