The Complete the Words task is one of the new question types ETS introduced in the redesigned TOEFL iBT on January 21, 2026. You read a short academic paragraph with 10 incomplete words and type the missing letters into each blank. Below are 15 original practice tasks across natural sciences, social sciences, history, and environmental science. Type your answers directly into each blank and click Check answers for instant feedback. There are 150 practice items in total. No signup, no email, no limits.

Before you start: the rules of the format

Before practicing, take a minute to understand what makes this task type distinctive. Many free practice resources online get the format wrong, so practicing against the wrong specifications can actually hurt your performance on test day.

Complete the Words: format rules per the official ETS guide

The four-step strategy ETS recommends

  1. Read the opening sentence carefully. It establishes the topic and tone for the entire paragraph and gives you the framework for figuring out everything that follows.
  2. Look for context clues. The words and phrases around each incomplete word almost always provide hints about what the missing word should mean.
  3. Use grammar. Determine what part of speech is needed (noun, verb, adjective) and what ending fits (plural, verb tense, comparative form). Often the grammatical role narrows the choices to a single word.
  4. Think about word patterns. Common prefixes, suffixes, and roots create predictable endings. If you see "indust__" with a plural sense in context, "industries" is the obvious completion.

How to use these practice tasks

Each task below contains an academic paragraph with 10 blanks. Type the missing letters into each blank, then click Check answers to see which were correct. Wrong answers will show the correct completion in green. You can also click Show all answers if you want to study the paragraph as an example without doing the typing exercise. The progress bar at the top tracks your overall score across all 15 tasks.

Overall progress: 0 / 150
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Frequently asked questions

Complete the Words is one of three Reading tasks introduced on the TOEFL iBT in January 2026. You read a short academic paragraph of about 70 to 100 words containing 10 incomplete words. The beginning letters of each incomplete word are visible, and you must type the missing letters using context, grammar, and vocabulary knowledge to determine the correct completion. Each TOEFL test contains 2 to 5 Complete the Words tasks, and each task contains exactly 10 blanks.
No. According to the official ETS guide, the first sentence of every Complete the Words paragraph contains no missing letters. This sentence establishes the topic, tone, and context, and serves as the test-taker's foundation for understanding the entire paragraph. The last sentence also typically contains no blanks. The 10 incomplete words appear in the middle sentences of the paragraph.
The number of missing letters varies, typically between 2 and 5 letters per blank. The visible letters at the beginning of the word, combined with surrounding context and grammatical structure, are designed to constrain the answer to one correct completion. American English spelling is used throughout.
Topics are drawn from a broad range of academic subjects, similar to those found in introductory university textbooks. Common categories include natural sciences (biology, geology, astronomy), social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology), history, and environmental science. The vocabulary is academic but not highly specialized, focusing on words that an educated reader would expect to encounter across multiple disciplines.
The official ETS guide recommends four strategies. First, read the opening sentence carefully because it sets the topic for the entire paragraph. Second, look for context clues in the surrounding words and phrases. Third, use grammatical knowledge to determine what part of speech and what word ending is required. Fourth, think about common word patterns including prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Reading the visible letters along with the surrounding text often makes the answer apparent.
Expect between 2 and 3 Complete the Words tasks on most TOEFL administrations, though the total can range from 2 to 5 depending on the adaptive routing of your specific test. Each task contains 10 blanks, so plan to complete roughly 20 to 50 individual word completions across the Reading section.
Yes. All 15 practice tasks on this page are completely free with no signup, no email required, and no usage limits. They were created by Epic Exam Prep, a Barcelona-based test prep company that has been preparing students for the TOEFL since 2010. For full-length adaptive practice tests and more, visit toefl.prepdrills.com.
JC

Jaclyn Caruana

Co-founder of Epic Exam Prep, a Barcelona-based test prep company since 2010. Has prepared students for the TOEFL, GRE, GMAT, and SAT with average score gains of 200 or more points on standardized tests. All 15 paragraphs and 150 practice items on this page were originally written and verified to match the official ETS specifications for the 2026 Complete the Words task type.

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