© 2026 LearnInShort
Fill in the Blanks and Collocations: Reading the Sentence, Not Just the Options
Sentence-completion items look like vocabulary tests, but most of them are reading tests. The sentence almost always contains a clue that points to the missing word: a contrast signal, a continuation signal, a cause and its effect, or a fixed word partner.
That last kind is called a collocation. Native speakers say heavy rain, not strong rain, and strong tea, not powerful tea. Neither version breaks a grammar rule, yet only one sounds right, and exams test exactly this.
This short gives a three-step attack for single and double blanks, the signal words that decide the direction of the missing word, and the verb-noun and adjective-noun pairs that appear most often. Prepositions, confusable words and idioms have their own topics, so they are left out here.
1. Fill in the blank: Although he trained hard for months, his performance in the final was ____.
2. Choose the correct verb: The accountant ____ a serious mistake in the annual report.
3. Which of the following is the correct collocation?
4. Fill in the blank: Could you ____ me a favour and post this letter on your way?
5. Fill in the blank: The village was remote, and the roads were ____, so supplies rarely arrived on time.
6. Choose the pair that best fills the blanks: Rita is usually ____, but at yesterday's meeting she was surprisingly ____ and spoke for an hour.
7. Fill in the blank: We were late because there was ____ traffic on the highway this morning.
8. Fill in the blank: Let us ____ a short break before the next session begins.