5-letter words with E as the 2nd letter and P as the 4th letter

The pattern is _E_P_, with three open slots around the fixed E and P. The 42 matches range from familiar words such as helps and keeps to less common forms such as kempy and delph. Eight rank among common English words, so the full tournament list is broader than everyday vocabulary.

The pattern at a glance

• There are 42 tournament-dictionary matches for _E_P_.
• Twenty-five of the 42 words end in S; seven end in Y.
• Eight matches are common English words.
• Collins lists 42 matches, compared with 33 in NWL2023 and 30 in ENABLE.
• The average score is 10 points.

Why do so many matches end in S?

Twenty-five of the 42 matches end in S, making that the dominant final letter by a wide margin. Examples include helps, keeps, leaps, heaps, peeps, and weeps. Many are familiar plurals or verb forms, so checking an S at the end is a strong first move when the board allows it.

The first letter is less concentrated: H and K tie at six words each, while L, P, and T each begin four. That gives you a practical way to narrow guesses without overcommitting to one opening letter. Only eight matches are common, though, so the remaining entries are less likely to be everyday choices.

5-letter words with E as the 2nd letter and P as the 4th letter

For Scrabble, KEMPY leads this group at 16 points; HEMPY scores 15, while JEEPS, PEPPY, and KELPY each score 14. Those totals are base word scores, before any premium squares. The average is 10, so the top end beats the typical match by a clear margin.

Check the word before building around an unfamiliar high scorer.

Two matches are Wordle answers, and all 42 are counted as allowed guesses. The answer names are not identified here, so treat the pattern as a clue filter rather than a shortlist of likely solutions.

Dictionary coverage also varies: Collins has all 42, while NWL2023 has 33 and ENABLE has 30. In tournament play, confirm the word is accepted by your game's dictionary.