# TOEFL Complete the Words: Examples and Tips | topin TOEFL guidesComplete the Words Where Reading, in both the first and the second module Per test 3 paragraphs: 2 in the first module, 1 in the second Gaps 10 per paragraph, so about 30 of the Reading items Text An academic paragraph of about 70–100 words Answer Type the missing letters; each gap is right or wrong ## How it works The first sentence is complete and sets the topic. After it, every second word loses its second half: you see the first half of the letters and a space for each missing one. You type the rest of the word, and each gap counts as one item. ## Worked example Complete the missing letters. Honeybees share information about food through a movement known as the waggle dance. The an\_\_\_ of t\_\_ dance te\_\_\_ other be\_\_ which dire\_\_\_\_\_ to f\_\_, while i\_\_ length sh\_\_\_ how f\_\_ away t\_\_ food is. Bees that watch the dance can then find the flowers without searching the whole area. A richer source of food also leads to more repetitions of the dance, so the best patches attract the most workers. Show the answer angle, the, tells, bees, direction, fly, its, shows, far, the "The an\_\_\_ of" needs a noun about the dance: angle. "t\_\_ dance" is the article before a noun already mentioned: the. "te\_\_\_ other" needs a present-tense verb with a singular subject, the angle: tells. "other be\_\_" needs a plural noun: bees. "which dire\_\_\_\_\_ to" is a noun after "which": direction. "to f\_\_" needs a base verb: fly. "i\_\_ length" is a possessive referring to the dance: its. "sh\_\_\_ how" is another singular present verb: shows. "how f\_\_ away" asks about distance: far. "t\_\_ food" is the article again: the. Note that fly and far both start with f and have three letters; only grammar tells them apart. ## A method for Complete the Words 1. 1 ### Read the whole paragraph first Spend a few seconds on the complete first sentence and skim the rest. Knowing the topic narrows every gap to a handful of likely words. 2. 2 ### Count the missing letters Each space stands for one letter, so the length of the word is fixed. A word that fits the meaning but has the wrong number of letters is wrong. 3. 3 ### Let grammar decide Ask what the gap must be: a noun after an article, a verb after a subject, an adverb before an adjective. Check endings such as -s, -ed, -ly and -tion against the sentence around the gap. 4. 4 ### Do the short words quickly Many gaps are function words such as the, of, its, which and that. Fill these at once and spend the saved time on the longer academic words. 5. 5 ### Reread the finished paragraph Read it once more with every word complete. Wrong tense, a missing plural or a misspelling usually stands out when the sentence is read as a whole. ## Traps to avoid * Choosing a word that fits the meaning but has one letter too many or too few. * Using the wrong form of the right word, such as tell for tells or direct for direction. * Misspelling a common academic word, which makes the gap wrong even if you knew the word. * Filling gaps one by one without reading the sentence, then missing that a subject is plural. * Spending too long on one hard word while easier gaps later in the paragraph are left empty. ## Complete the Words FAQs How many Complete the Words questions are on the TOEFL? In topin's mocks, which follow the 2026 blueprint, there are three paragraphs of 10 gaps each: two in the first Reading module and one in the second. Does spelling count in Complete the Words? Yes. The task tests whether you can produce the word, so the missing letters must be spelled correctly for the gap to count. How do I get better at Complete the Words? Read short academic texts and practise writing common academic words in full. Pay attention to word families and endings, since many gaps turn on a suffix. Is Complete the Words like a C-test? Yes, it works in the same way as a C-test: after an intact first sentence, the second half of every second word is removed and you restore it. ## Try Complete the Words under real timing Your first full-length TOEFL mock is free, with every section included. [Take the free mock ](/toefl/login)