TOEFL Complete the Words: how the task works and how to practise

Complete the Words is new in the 2026 TOEFL iBT and usually comes at the start of Reading. It looks like a spelling exercise, but it's really testing whether you understand the paragraph and know how English words are formed.

How it works

You see a short paragraph, often on an academic topic. The first sentence is usually complete. After that, some words show only their first half, followed by blanks for the missing letters. You type the missing letters.

The number of blanks tells you how many letters are missing, which helps you check your answer.

A worked example

Bees are among the most important pollinators on Earth. Without the__ (2), many cro__ (2) would produce far smaller harv____ (4). Scientists have obse____ (4) a sharp decl___ (3) in bee numbers over the past few decades.

Answers:

1. the + se → these (a plural pronoun referring back to "bees")
2. cro + ps → crops (plural noun after "many")
3. harv + ests → harvests (plural, after "far smaller")
4. obse + rved → observed (past participle after "have")
5. decl + ine → decline (noun after "a sharp")

Notice how much grammar is involved: "many" needs a plural, "have" needs a past participle, "a sharp" needs a noun.

A method for each word

1. Read the whole sentence first, not just the word.
2. Decide what kind of word fits: noun, verb, adjective, adverb.
3. Decide the form: plural or singular, tense, -ing or -ed, comparative.
4. Use the letter count to check.
5. Type and check spelling. Doubled letters (occurred, beginning) and silent letters cause most errors.

Where people lose marks

• Right word, wrong form. "Observe" instead of "observed".
• Spelling. "Enviroment" for "environment", "goverment" for "government".
• Guessing a word that fits the letters but not the meaning. A word starting "dec" could be "decade", "decide" or "decline", but only one fits both the letter count and the meaning.
• Spending too long on one word. Move on and come back if time allows.

How to practise

• Read academic English daily, such as science news, university blogs or textbook introductions, and notice word endings: -tion, -ment, -ive, -ous, -ity.
• Build word families: observe, observation, observer, observable. Complete the Words often needs the right family member.
• Spell from memory. Write out new academic words without looking. If you can't spell it, you can't use it here.
• Practise with a timer. This task should be fast, so leave time for the longer texts later in the section.

In the AIL practice tests

Every AIL TOEFL iBT style practice test starts Reading with Complete the Words paragraphs in the 2026 format. The words show the first half of their letters, as in the real task, and your report shows which ones you got wrong.