Sentence completion is one of the more generous question types. The answers are in order, they are sitting in the passage in print, and you only have to copy them.
Most of the marks lost here are lost after the right words have been found.
The rules, in short
| You write | Words taken from the passage |
| Word limit | Stated in the instructions. One word over loses the mark |
| Hyphenated words | Count as one word |
| Order | Questions follow the passage |
| Form | Copy exactly. No changes to tense, number or word class |
| Spelling | Must be correct |
| What is tested | Finding detail and specific information |
The three ways to lose a mark you had earned
Going over the limit. The instruction might say ONE WORD ONLY, NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS or NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER. It can change between question sets in the same test, so read it every time.
| Instruction: NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS | |
|---|---|
| solar panels | Correct |
| the solar panels | Wrong — three words |
| panels | Correct, if the sentence still makes sense |
Changing the word. If the passage says polluted and the gap seems to want pollution, you have found the wrong word, not a word to adjust. The right answer fits the gap as it is printed.
Miscopying. The word is in front of you. Check it letter by letter, especially plurals and double letters. On the computer test you can copy and paste from the passage, which removes the risk.
Method
- Read the instruction and note the word limit.
- Read the first sentence and look at the gap. What kind of word is missing: a noun, a number, an adjective, a verb? Is it singular or plural? a ___ needs a singular noun starting with a consonant sound. several ___ needs a plural.
- Underline the words around the gap that you can search for, and expect them to be paraphrased in the passage.
- Find the place in the passage. Start from where the last answer was.
- Read that sentence and the ones beside it and take the word or words that fill the gap.
- Read your completed sentence. It must be grammatical, and it must mean what the passage means.
The sentence is a paraphrase, the answer is not
This is what the task really tests. Everything in the question sentence has been reworded except the missing words.
Passage: The earliest clocks of this kind were driven by a falling weight, and they lost as much as fifteen minutes a day.
Question: Early mechanical clocks were powered by a ______ and were inaccurate by up to a quarter of an hour daily.
Driven by has become powered by. Fifteen minutes a day has become a quarter of an hour daily. The answer, falling weight, is untouched.
So search for the idea, not the words, and when you find it the answer will be the part that has not changed.
A worked example
An original passage, written for this guide.
Salt was once so valuable that Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in it. Its importance had little to do with flavour. Before refrigeration, salting was the only reliable way to stop meat and fish from spoiling, which meant that armies and ships could not travel far without it. Towns grew up wherever salt could be mined or collected from the sea, and governments soon discovered that it was easy to tax, because everyone needed it and nobody could make it at home.
Complete the sentences. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
- In ancient Rome, salt was occasionally used to pay ______.
- Without refrigeration, salt was the one dependable way to keep meat and fish from ______.
- Salt was a convenient product for governments to ______.
1: soldiers. The passage says Roman soldiers. Roman is already covered by in ancient Rome, so one word is enough, though Roman soldiers would also be within the limit.
2: spoiling. The only reliable way has become the one dependable way, and stop has become keep. The word that has not changed is the answer. Do not write going bad: it means the same, and it is not in the passage.
3: tax. The gap follows to, so it needs a verb in its base form, and the passage has easy to tax.
The traps
The nearby word. Two nouns sit close together in the passage and only one fits the meaning of the question.
The word already in the question. If the question says a wooden ______ and the passage says a wooden frame, the answer is frame, not wooden frame.
The grammatical fit that changes the meaning. A word that makes a correct sentence and says something the passage does not.
The plural. Machine and machines are different answers. Copy what is printed.
Timing
These should be among your quicker marks: well under a minute each once you know where you are in the passage. If one will not come, write your best guess from the right part of the text and move on, because the next answer is further down and waiting.
What costs marks
- Exceeding the word limit, usually with an article.
- Changing the form of a word to make it fit.
- Spelling and plural errors in copying.
- Repeating a word that is already printed beside the gap.
- Leaving a gap empty. A guess costs nothing.
Practise it
After a practice set, do not only count your score. Sort your wrong answers into two piles: wrong word found, and right word lost in the writing. The second pile is the easier half band.
You can practise IELTS Reading with timed tests on IELTS Studio, which mark every answer and show the band straight away.
Related: summary completion uses the same rules on a connected paragraph, and short-answer questions use them on direct questions.
Sources
- IELTS Reading test format Official description of sentence completion: words chosen from the text, the word limit and the lost mark for exceeding it, hyphenated words counting as one, and questions following the order of the text.
Last reviewed October 5, 2026. See our editorial policy for how guides are checked and corrected.
Frequently asked questions
- Do sentence completion answers have to come from the passage?
- Yes. You fill each gap with words chosen from the passage, copied exactly. A word of your own with the same meaning is marked wrong, and so is a different form of the word, such as pollution where the passage has polluted.
- Are sentence completion questions in passage order in IELTS Reading?
- Yes. The answer to each question comes after the answer to the one before it. Use the last answer you found as the starting point for the next search.
- What does NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER mean?
- Your answer can be one word, two words, a number, or one or two words with a number. Three words is over the limit and loses the mark, even if the extra word is only the or a.
- Does a hyphenated word count as one word in IELTS Reading?
- Yes. A hyphenated word such as check-in counts as a single word against the limit. Contracted words such as they're are not tested.
- Should I include a or the in a sentence completion answer?
- Only if the sentence needs it and the word limit allows it. An article counts as a word. If the gap already has a or the printed before it, do not write it again.
- What is the difference between sentence completion and summary completion?
- Sentence completion gives separate sentences that follow the passage from start to finish. Summary completion gives a connected paragraph that usually covers one part of the passage, and sometimes offers a list of words to choose from.