Text Completion is the GRE Verbal question type where good technique beats a big vocabulary. The sentence itself tells you what the blank must mean, if you read its clues before you read the choices. This guide covers the one, two, and three-blank formats, the predict-first method, the structural clue words that unlock the answer, the all-or-nothing scoring on multi-blank questions, and interactive practice with full solutions.
Text Completion questions have one, two, or three blanks. Single-blank questions give five choices; multi-blank questions give three choices per blank. The winning habit is to predict the meaning of the blank from the sentence before reading the choices, using structural clue words like although, but, and because. Multi-blank questions give no partial credit: every blank must be right. Text Completion is one of the three question types in the GRE Verbal Reasoning section.
Every Text Completion question is a short passage with blanks you must fill from the choices given. There are three formats:
| Format | Choices | Scoring |
|---|---|---|
| Single blank | Five answer choices for the one blank. | One point if correct. |
| Two blanks | Three choices for each blank, chosen independently. | Both blanks must be correct. No partial credit. |
| Three blanks | Three choices for each blank, chosen independently. | All three blanks must be correct. No partial credit. |
The all-or-nothing scoring on multi-blank questions is why careful reading matters more than speed. On a three-blank question, two correct blanks and one careless guess earns nothing.
The single most effective Text Completion habit is to cover the answer choices and predict the blank first. The sentence always contains the information you need. Once you have a prediction, the correct choice usually jumps out, and tempting wrong answers lose their pull.
Work through one question of each format. Predict the blank from the sentence, make your selection, then check your answer and read the full solution. Remember: on the two and three-blank questions, every blank must be correct.
Turn your practice performance into a scaled 130 to 170 score with our free calculator.
Free GRE Score Calculator| Trap | What happens | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing a word that just sounds right | You pick a word that fits the topic but ignores the specific clue in the sentence. | Predict from the clue first, then match. If a choice does not fit your prediction, it is wrong. |
| Missing the contrast word | You overlook an although or but and fill the blank to agree when it should oppose. | Circle the signal words before predicting. They decide the direction of the blank. |
| Settling for two of three | On a multi-blank question you nail two blanks and guess the third. | There is no partial credit. Verify every blank with its own clue before moving on. |
| Falling for a secondary meaning | A choice fits a common meaning of a word but not the meaning the sentence requires. | Confirm the exact sense the sentence needs, not just a familiar definition. |
Text Completion rewards the same close reading as the rest of GRE Verbal. Pair it with strong quant skills in Quantitative Comparison and Data Interpretation, see how the sections combine in GRE section-adaptive scoring, and project your result with the GRE score calculator. Pair it with its sibling question type, GRE Sentence Equivalence, and with GRE Reading Comprehension.
Estimate your scaled GRE score from your practice results, or work through more interactive question types. No signup required.
GRE Score Calculator Quantitative ComparisonText Completion questions have one, two, or three blanks. A single-blank question offers five answer choices. Two-blank and three-blank questions offer three choices for each blank, and you select one word per blank.
No. On two-blank and three-blank questions, every blank must be filled correctly to earn the point. Getting two of three blanks right scores the same as getting none right.
Predict the meaning of the blank from the sentence's own clues before you look at the answer choices. Use structural signal words, such as although, but, and despite for contrast, or and, moreover, and because for continuation, to decide whether the blank agrees with or opposes another idea in the sentence.
Text Completion is a core part of each Verbal Reasoning section, making up roughly a third of the verbal questions, alongside Sentence Equivalence and Reading Comprehension.
Vocabulary helps, but structural reasoning matters more. Strong sentence clues often let you predict the meaning of the blank and choose correctly even when some answer words are unfamiliar.
Text Completion has one to three blanks with a single correct answer for each blank. Sentence Equivalence has one blank, and you choose two words that both give the sentence the same meaning.
Project your score with the free PrepDrills tool, or connect with an Epic Exam Prep tutor for personalized one-on-one coaching on Data Insights and the rest of the GMAT Focus.
Free Score Calculator Find a Teacher