A TOEFL Complete the Words Sample

This TOEFL Complete the Words sample is one original paragraph with ten incomplete words, a key, and three filled attempts so you can see which misses score zero. It is not an ETS form. The public task uses a short academic paragraph of about 70–100 words, keeps the first sentence whole, and deletes the second half of selected words. There is no word bank. Each blank is right or wrong. Case does not matter. An extra letter does.

In this guide

1. What this sample is measuring
2. The paragraph and the key
3. Three filled attempts
4. What to copy into your own set
5. Try this yourself
6. Frequently asked questions

What this TOEFL Complete the Words sample measures

Complete the Words is not a long reading and not a vocabulary list. The first sentence states the topic before any letters disappear. Later words show their beginnings. You type the rest. The number of missing letters is part of the item: a real English word still fails if it does not fit the gap and the sentence.

On this product a solo set costs 1 credit when the exam starts, and it is the Reading task a new account can start. The report shows the letters you typed and the keyed word. It does not give partial credit for a near ending. How Reading is scored states that rule. This page only shows it on one paragraph. The task explainer uses a different paragraph. Do not memorize either one and call it preparation. A familiar gap measures memory.

The paragraph and the key

Read the first sentence whole. The endings in parentheses are the key for this illustration.

“Campus bike shops now tag every loaner before it leaves the rack. Riders retur__ (n) a yel__ (low) bike by sun__ (set), or the sho__ (p) char__ (ges) the next morning. A fl__ (at) tire can be swa__ (pped) at the ra__ (ck), but a ben__ (t) wheel nee__ (ds) the indoor stand before you ride home.”

Ten gaps, ten decisions.

Gap	Visible stem	Keyed ending	Why that ending
1	retur	n	verb for what riders do with the bike
2	yel	low	color of the tagged bike
3	sun	set	the deadline, not a place
4	sho	p	the subject that charges
5	char	ges	agrees with “shop” and names the penalty
6	fl	at	the tire problem a rack can handle
7	swa	pped	past participle after “can be”
8	ra	ck	where the swap happens
9	ben	t	the wheel problem the rack cannot fix
10	nee	ds	agrees with “wheel” and forces the indoor stand

“Requesting” cannot fill gap 1, because the visible letters and the gap length forbid a longer verb. “Yellowish” cannot fill gap 2. The paragraph already chose the phrase. Complete the Words is not a creativity task.

Three filled attempts

These attempts are a teaching sketch. They are not measurements from a learner, and they are not an official score.

Attempt A fills every gap with the keyed ending. Ten right, zero wrong. The indicative practice band on a real report would be high because the count is high. That band is still a practice figure on the 1.0–6.0 scale. It is not an ETS result, and a perfect ten on a paragraph you can see in print is not evidence about a new paragraph.

Attempt B gets the content words and misses the grammar. “Charge” sits where “charges” belongs, and “need” sits where “needs” belongs. “Swap” sits where “swapped” belongs. Seven right, three wrong. The topics were understood. The endings were not. A report that looks like this means the next set’s only goal is agreement and participle form, not a new academic topic.

Attempt C is fast and inventive. “Yellow” becomes “yell,” “sunset” becomes “Sunday,” “flat” becomes “floor,” and “rack” becomes “ramp.” Six of those are real words that fit a bike shop in some other sentence. They do not fit these gaps. Illustrative count: four right, six wrong. The four right ones were the short function-shaped gaps that the sentence forced. The six wrong ones were guesses from the topic. Topic knowledge did not score.

Sort a real report the same way. Form pile: the ending, the agreement, the part of speech. Meaning pile: the right shape and the wrong word for the sentence. The larger pile is the next drill. If the piles are equal, drill form first. Meaning work on top of broken endings produces another zero.

What to copy into your own set

Copy the order, not the bikes. Read the intact sentence once. Type in order. Do not hop to the gap that looks interesting, because hopping leaves the short grammar gaps for a rushed last minute, and those are the ones Attempt C actually got right when they were seen.

Copy the empty-blank rule. An empty gap scores 0, the same as a confident wrong ending, and the report has less to teach you. If the second guess is no better than the first, put the best letter shape and move.

Do not copy a habit of rewriting the paragraph in fancier vocabulary. “Diagno” in another set will not become “illness,” and “char” here will not become “bills.” The stem is a constraint the task already solved.

A full Reading section is two modules and costs 3 credits. It still includes this task, plus daily-life texts and a short academic passage. One clean sample on a page you can reread is not a reason to spend the section. Read in Daily Life is the next credit if the endings were clean and notices still feel slow. The section guide is the map of when both modules are worth the credits.

Try this yourself

Cover the parenthetical endings. Fill the ten gaps in four minutes. Uncover, mark form versus meaning, and write one sentence naming the larger pile. Then start a new set so the words are ones you have not just read.

Start Complete the Words for the scored attempt. The hub at TOEFL Reading practice is the same first step if you are choosing among tasks. Bring the pile note to the report. If the band feels better than the pile, trust the pile.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the official ETS paragraph?

No. ETS publishes its own sample wordings. This paragraph is an original illustration of the same job: intact first sentence, ten missing endings, no word bank. Practice the job on a new set.

Does a near spelling get partial credit?

No. Each blank is right or wrong. “Charge” for “charges” is a miss. Case does not matter. An extra letter does.

Should I start the full Reading section after one perfect sample?

Not from this page. A perfect fill of a paragraph you can see is memory. A new scored set is the evidence. The two-module section costs 3 credits and is useful after a solo set shows which pile is larger.

Next steps

Open Complete the Words and fill a paragraph you have not studied. Then read common Reading mistakes if the meaning pile was the larger one.