What does a child have to do to complete a verbal context gap in the 11+?

Choose the word that best satisfies sentence meaning and logic. It is one of 26 named verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the language strand, and this page carries 2 interactive exercises that practise it.

What is the trap in an 11+ complete a verbal context gap question?

Every option is the same kind of word and every option reads smoothly on its own, so word class and sound decide nothing. Only the clue in the sentence does. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.

What is not part of complete a verbal context gap in the 11+?

The skill map draws the line here: One gap or a linked pair with one coherent context. A question past that line is testing a different named verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.

How can my child practise complete a verbal context gap for free?

Use Mind the Gap and Redacted Files, embedded on this page. They are the exercises the skill map attaches to complete a verbal context gap, they run in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. Each also has its own link, so you can send one to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Verbal Reasoning · Language

Complete a verbal context gap

Choose the word that best satisfies sentence meaning and logic.

Watch the worked example

Find the Word That Fits

This video shows how to choose the word that best fits the meaning and logic of a sentence. Watch an 11+ verbal reasoning question solved step by step.

Open video page and transcript

Keep practising with Smart Cub Learning. Find topics to practise next

Quick quiz: Complete a verbal context gap

10 questions, with feedback after each one. No sign-up needed.

Read the questions in this quiz

Question 1
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 2
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 3
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 4
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 5
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 6
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 7
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 8
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 9
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.
Question 10
Choose the word that the rest of this sentence tells you must go in the gap.

Practise it now

Choose the word that best completes this sentence. Keep it and reject the other cards.

Loading the interactive exercise. Nothing you do here is saved or scored.

A worked example

One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.

Reading the clue before choosing

Worked example: find the clue in the sentence, then see why only one of these words matches it.

All four words are the same kind of word. Only one of them matches the clue.

A … of parents stretched all the way round the school gate.

Choices for the gap: trickle, swarm, queue, flood.

Answer: queue

How you get there

The sentence says "stretched all the way round the school gate", and "queue" means a line of people waiting, so it is the one word that explains it. "swarm" means a large moving group of insects; "flood" means a very large amount arriving at once; "trickle" means a very thin flow, and none of those fits the clue.

Why the other answers tempt

Every option is the same kind of word and every option reads smoothly on its own, so word class and sound decide nothing. Only the clue in the sentence does.

If they are stuck, say this

Do not choose the word that sounds nicest. Look for the detail the writer has put in on purpose, and ask which word that detail rules in.

Now do it live in Mind the Gap

Kitchen-table script for parents

Try this together

A friendly mini script for the breakfast table, school run or a quiet two minutes. Read it aloud as written, or make it your own.

Ready? Let's have a go at Complete a verbal context gap together. The sentence is: A … of parents stretched all the way round the school gate. Here comes the question: Worked example: find the clue in the sentence, then see why only one of these words matches it. Before we race ahead, let us choose one good first step. Here is a helpful clue: Do not choose the word that sounds nicest. Nice work. Now let us follow the thinking: "swarm" means a large moving group of insects; "flood" means a very large amount arriving at once; "trickle" means a very thin flow, and none of those fits the clue. So our answer is: queue. There is one sneaky trap to watch for: Only the clue in the sentence does. Can you show me that first move again in your own words? Brilliant. No rush; we are practising a method you can reuse, not trying to win a speed contest.

How each of these 2 exercises teaches it

Mind the Gap

Choose the word that best completes this sentence. Keep it and reject the other cards.

Check grammar and meaning together. In this sentence, was so needs an adjective in its base form. Steeply is an adverb and steepness is a noun. Steeper is a comparative adjective; was so steeper does not fit this sentence. Steep and gentle both fit the grammar, but steep best explains why the climb required rests. A gentle slope does not supply that explanation. These clues make steep the best option. Read the completed sentence to check it makes sense.

What to say if they get stuck

Read the whole sentence with each word in the gap. Check both the grammar and the meaning.
In this sentence, the gap follows "was so". Look for an adjective in the right form to describe the path.
Steep and gentle both fit the sentence’s grammar. Which one better explains needing to rest on the climb?

Open Mind the Gap on its own page to share it

Redacted Files

Four words have been censored. Decode each one using the clues around it.

This engine’s own main skill is Vocabulary in context. It practises complete a verbal context gap alongside it.

A censored word is never a guess, because the sentence around it has already narrowed the answer to one. The method has three steps. First, decide the flavour the gap needs: is this word positive or negative, mild or extreme? "Rattled like loose teeth" demands something violent, so gentle and pleasant are gone before you compare them. Second, hunt for a line that contradicts a candidate outright: the boat has gone from its mooring, so the sea cannot merely have sprinkled the steps. Third, check the register, meaning whether the word sounds like it belongs in this kind of writing about this kind of person: a keeper whose entries are ruled and dated is not careless, however tired he might be. Do those three checks and the right word is usually the only one left standing.

What to say if they get stuck

Never pick the word you like best. Pick the word the rest of the sentence has already forced.
Two of the three choices are traps: one is far too mild for what is happening, one is contradicted by a line further on.
Read past the gap before you choose. The clue is often in the next clause, not the one you are staring at.

Open Redacted Files on its own page to share it

How complete a verbal context gap differs from the skills beside it

The same exercise practises several skills, and telling them apart is often the difficulty rather than the exercise itself. On this page the skill is: choose the word that best satisfies sentence meaning and logic, and it stops where one gap or a linked pair with one coherent context.

Classify a word in context
Identify the grammatical function of one highlighted word in its sentence. Classify contextual function, not a word in isolation.
Interpret a word in context
Infer the meaning of one word from its sentence and passage context. Excludes recalling a definition without context.

Questions parents ask about complete a verbal context gap

What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.

: Choose the word that best satisfies sentence meaning and logic. It is one of 26 named verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the language strand, and this page carries 2 interactive exercises that practise it.
: Every option is the same kind of word and every option reads smoothly on its own, so word class and sound decide nothing. Only the clue in the sentence does. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.
: Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Do not choose the word that sounds nicest. Look for the detail the writer has put in on purpose, and ask which word that detail rules in.
: The skill map draws the line here: One gap or a linked pair with one coherent context. A question past that line is testing a different named verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
: Use Mind the Gap and Redacted Files, embedded on this page. They are the exercises the skill map attaches to complete a verbal context gap, they run in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. Each also has its own link, so you can send one to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Verbal reasoning is a set of question types, not a subject to revise

A free diagnostic works out which of the codes, analogies, word puzzles and logic types are already secure, and which are not.