Menu
Find words

6-letter words with M as the 2nd letter and L as the 5th letter

6-letter words with M as the 2nd letter and L as the 5th letter: 21 matches, including emails, smells, and impale.

21 wordsTop pick EMAILSHighest score EMBOLY 13

3 of 21 are everyday words (14%). A mix of familiar words and game-only finds.

With M in 2nd place, E is the most common 5th letter (73 words). The bar under each letter shows the size of its list.

  • Length
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15

Best words to play first 21 · most-used first

  • EMAILS8
  • SMELLS8
  • SMELLY11
  • IMPALA10
  • SMALLS8
  • SMUGLY12
  • IMPALE10
  • IMPELS10
  • EMBALM12
  • EMBOLI10
  • UMBELS10
  • UMWELT11
  • AMPULE10
  • AMPULS10
  • EMPALE10
  • EMBALE10
  • EMBALL10
  • EMBOLY13
  • IMBALM12
  • SMOILE8
  • SMOYLE11
All valid words 21

A to Z. Includes rare and Collins-only words. Linked tiles open the word's meaning, score and rhymes.

  • AMPULE10
  • AMPULS10
  • EMAILS8
  • EMBALE10
  • EMBALL10
  • EMBALM12
  • EMBOLI10
  • EMBOLY13
  • EMPALE10
  • IMBALM12
  • IMPALA10
  • IMPALE10
  • IMPELS10
  • SMALLS8
  • SMELLS8
  • SMELLY11
  • SMOILE8
  • SMOYLE11
  • SMUGLY12
  • UMBELS10
  • UMWELT11
Letters by positionIn 33% of these words the 1st letter is E.
1st letter
  1. E33%
  2. S29%
  3. I19%
3rd letter
  1. B33%
  2. P29%
  3. A10%
4th letter
  1. A33%
  2. L14%
  3. E14%
6th letter
  1. S29%
  2. E29%
  3. Y14%

Highest-scoring words

Scrabble and Words With Friends points, before board bonuses
Score spreadMost of these words score 10 in Scrabble; EMBOLY tops the list with 13. Scores before board bonuses.
  1. 88 points: 4 words
  2. 9 points: 0 words
  3. 1010 points: 10 words
  4. 11 points: 3 words
  5. 1212 points: 3 words
  6. 13 points: 1 words
WordScrabbleWords With FriendsDictionaries
EMBOLY1315All three
SMUGLY1215All three
EMBALM1216All three
IMBALM1216All three
SMELLY1113All three
UMWELT1114Collins only
SMOYLE1112Collins only
IMPALA1013All three
IMPALE1013All three
IMPELS1013All three
EMBOLI1013All three
UMBELS1014All three

Fixing M in slot two and L in slot five leaves a compact set: 21 six-letter entries across tournament dictionaries. Familiar choices include emails, smells, and smelly; less familiar options such as emboly and umwelt make the pattern harder to spot. Only 3 entries rank among the most common English words, so a playable match is not automatically a familiar one.

Quick facts about the M–L pattern

  • Twenty-one tournament-list words fit M _ _ _ L _.
  • Only 3 rank among common English words; emails, smells, and smelly are familiar examples.
  • E starts 7 matches, S starts 6, and I starts 4.
  • Final E and S are tied, with 6 matches each.
  • EMBOLY tops the score list at 13 points.

How does the fixed pattern narrow the field?

The fixed pattern is M _ _ _ L _, but the opening letter quickly splits candidates: E leads with 7, followed by S with 6 and I with 4. That makes emails, smells, and impale natural checks when the first tile is known; ampule and umwelt cover different openings without changing the locked middle. The shared SM opening makes smells and smelly a useful pair to distinguish by their final tile.

Endings are less varied than the internal slots suggest: E and S each close 6 entries, while Y closes 3. M ends 2, and A, I, L, and T end one apiece. Check the final vowel or S before reaching for rarer endings; one known final letter can trim this small group sharply.

6-letter words with M as the 2nd letter and L as the 5th letter

EMBOLY is the highest scorer at 13 points; SMUGLY, EMBALM, and IMBALM each score 12. SMELLY, UMWELT, and SMOYLE follow at 11, while IMPALA, IMPALE, and IMPELS each score 10. The average is 10.2, so the group has several strong plays rather than one runaway outlier.

Dictionary coverage is uneven: Collins accepts all 21 matches, NWL2023 includes 16, and ENABLE includes 15. Fourteen have definitions, but only 3 are common by frequency, so a plausible-looking form is not automatically accepted in your game. Check your game's word list before committing an unfamiliar entry; EMBALM is easier to recognize, while EMBOLY scores more.

Questions people ask

How many words have M second and L fifth?
There are 21 six-letter matches with M in the second position and L in the fifth. Examples range from familiar words such as emails and smells to less common forms such as umwelt and emboly. The pattern fixes two tiles, leaving four positions to solve.
Which matching word has the highest Scrabble score?
EMBOLY is the highest-scoring match at 13 points. SMUGLY, EMBALM, and IMBALM each score 12, while SMELLY, UMWELT, and SMOYLE score 11. These values compare the words before any board-square bonuses.
Are all 21 matches accepted in every word game?
No. Collins includes 21 matches, while NWL2023 includes 16 and ENABLE includes 15. The dictionaries do not share every entry, and only 3 matches are common by frequency. Check the word list used by your game before playing an unfamiliar word.

Keep going