How to Solve GRE Fill-in-the-Blanks When You Don’t Know the Vocabulary

In this article, you’ll discover clever strategies to crack GRE fill-in-the-blanks (text completion and sentence equivalence questions)—even when you don’t recognize the options

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One of the most dreaded moments in the GRE Verbal section is staring at a fill-in-the-blanks question (Text Completion or Sentence Equivalence) and realizing you don’t recognize most of the answer choices. Panic sets in: “If I don’t know these words, how can I possibly answer?”

This anxiety is understandable. Sometimes, missing the meaning of just one or two answer choices can cause you to lose the question entirely. It doesn’t matter that you understood 80% of the sentence—that small gap in vocabulary knowledge feels fatal.

Here’s the truth: there is no foolproof strategy that guarantees you’ll get these questions right without knowing the meanings. Much depends on the options you face, the wording of the sentence, and—yes—a little bit of luck.

But here’s the good news: there are strategies you can apply even when you don’t know the words. These won’t always save you, but they can improve your odds and help you think more systematically.

In this post, we’ll walk through practical approaches with examples, so you see how to turn a seemingly impossible question into a solvable puzzle.

(Just a heads-up: The examples in this blog post are crafted by me to show you how the upcoming strategies can work their magic. In the real GRE exam, you might not come across options as perfectly suited as these, but they’ll still give you a great idea of what to expect!)

Also read: How to solve verbal ability questions in GRE

Strategy 1: Eliminate Known Wrong Options

Elimination is the most reliable strategy in any multiple-choice test, and it works wonders in the GRE Verbal section. Instead of trying to spot the “right” answer, focus on spotting what’s wrong.

Even if you don’t know two of the options, crossing out four others will leave you in a much stronger position. And sometimes, the very act of eliminating forces you to reread the sentence in a fresh light, making the right answer clearer.

Let’s see this with the help of an example.

Example (Sentence Equivalence, Single Blank, two correct answers):

Despite the apparent chaos, the professor’s lecture was surprisingly ______, allowing even unprepared students to follow the complex arguments.

(A) incoherent
(B) lucid
(C) pellucid
(D) confusing
(E) ambiguous
(F) obscure

Explanation:

Of the given options, let’s say you don’t know the meaning of the option B (lucid) and C (pellucid), but you know the meaning of the remaining 4 options. You can atleast try to play the elimination game with these 4.

• Step 1: The context is “despite chaos… surprisingly _____,” which implies that the blank must contain a positive term. This missing word should indicate that something is easy to understand, as it suggests that students are able to follow the complex arguments.
• Step 2: Now look at the options: incoherent (A) means lacking logical connection or clarity; confusing (D) suggests causing puzzlement or disorder; ambiguous (E) implies having multiple possible meanings, making understanding uncertain; and obscure (F) refers to something unclear or difficult to grasp. All four words convey lack of clarity, which directly contradicts the idea of the lecture being ‘surprisingly easy to follow.’ 
• Step 3: Eliminating the 4 options leaves us with the two choices, and you can blindly choose the remaining two options. By the way, both the options—lucid and pellucid— means something transparently clear.

Correct answers: (B) lucid and (C) pellucid.

This shows how you don’t need to know all six words—just eliminating the wrong ones is enough.

Strategy 2: Use Word Roots as Clues

Sometimes, even if you don’t know the exact meaning of a word, its root can give you powerful hints. GRE loves words built from Latin or Greek roots, and recognizing them can help you guess meaning. Let’s see this in an example.

Example (Sentence Equivalence, two correct answers):

The company’s new policy was designed to ______ any potential conflicts between departments before they could escalate into serious disputes.

(A) exacerbate
(B) preempt
(C) forestall
(D) perpetuate
(E) amplify
(F) vindicate

Explanation:

The sentence makes it clear that the policy was created to stop conflicts before they could escalate, so the correct answer must convey the idea of prevention. Let’s assume for a moment that you don’t know the meaning of any of the words in the options.

Among the options, the word preempt (option B) gives a strong clue through its root: the prefix pre- means “before,” as in prevent or prepare, which fits perfectly with the idea of acting ahead of time. 

Similarly, the word forestall (option C) combines fore- (“before”) with stall (“to stop”), literally meaning “to stop in advance,” again capturing the intended sense of prevention.

If I didn’t know the meaning of any of the word, I’d choose these two options.

The other options either have roots suggesting intensification like “exacerbate” (ex- meaning out/intense) and “amplify,” continuation like “perpetuate” (per- meaning through/continuing), or offer no helpful root clues like “vindicate.”

The beauty of this strategy is that if you don’t know the exact meaning of a word, the root meanings alone can guide you to the correct pair.

Correct answers: (B) preempt and (C) forestall.

Strategy 3: Identify the Required Part of Speech

The blank must grammatically fit in the sentence. Sometimes, half the answer choices can be eliminated instantly because they’re the wrong part of speech.

When trying to identify parts of speech, certain word endings can be helpful clues.

Nouns often appear with endings such as -tion (innovation, complication), -ity / -ety (audacity, perspicacity), or -ness (selfishness, kindness).

Adjectives commonly end in -ous / -ious (tedious, ambiguous), -ive (assertive, evasive, corrosive), or -al (pedagogical, paradoxical).

Adverbs are usually the easiest to detect, since many—but not all—end in -ly (quickly, erratically, tediously, anomalously). They modify verbs, adjectives, or even other adverbs (“he spoke ___,” “the essay was ___ written”). A caution, however: not every -ly word is an adverb. Words like friendly, scholarly, lively are adjectives, and GRE loves to slip them in questions.

Verbs frequently take endings such as -ate, -ify, -ize, -en (exacerbate, rectify, vilify, legitimize, darken). They signal action, so when the blank follows to ___ or comes directly after a subject (“critics ___ the film”), it’s a verb that is required.

Let’s now see this strategy in action with an example sentence:

Example (Sentence Equivalence, Single Blank, Two correct answers):

Although the film was visually stunning, its storyline was so ______ that critics quickly lost interest.

(A) pedestrian
(B) perspicacity
(C) gruesome
(D) disquisition
(E) trite

Explanation

The sentence sets up a contrast between the film being “visually stunning” (adjective) and its storyline being disappointing, so the blank must carry a negative quality. Grammatically, the blank requires an adjective that describes the storyline. 

This instantly rules out option (B) perspicacity and option (D) disquisition, since both are nouns (first one ends in -ity, second one in -tion) and cannot fit the structure of the sentence. 

That leaves us with three adjectives—pedestrian (ordinary and unimaginative), gruesome (horrific, causing intense disgust), and trite (overused and clichéd)—all of which have the negative tone we need. Among these options, pedestrian and trite most precisely capture the idea of a storyline that lacks originality, making them the best fits for the blank.

Correct answers: (A) pedestrian and (E) trite.

Strategy 4: Pay Attention to Tone and Connotation

Sentences in GRE often carry an emotional tone—positive, negative, sarcastic, or neutral. If you can sense the mood of the sentence, you can often eliminate options that don’t match the tone, even if you don’t know their exact meanings.

Roots are especially useful here. For instance:

• mal- = bad (malfunction, malicious, malevolent)
• ben- = good (benefit, benevolent, benign)
• eu- = good, pleasant (euphoria, eulogy, euphonious) → usually positive.
• dys- = bad, ill, abnormal (dystopia, dysfunction, dyspeptic) → usually negative.
  

Spotting these can immediately reveal whether a word is positive or negative.

Example (Text Completion, One Blank, One correct answer):

Although the politician’s public speeches projected optimism, his private correspondence revealed a profoundly ______ view of human nature.

(A) sanguine
(B) jubilant
(C) benevolent
(D) malevolent
(E) optimistic

Explanation:

The sentence sets up a contrast between the politician’s optimistic speeches and what his private correspondence revealed, which means the blank should carry a negative connotation. 

Words like sanguine, jubilant, benevolent, and optimistic are all positive in meaning and therefore inconsistent with the intended contrast. The only option that fits is malevolent, a word built from the root mal- (bad) and volent (wishing), literally meaning “wishing evil or ill upon others.” 

The word’s tone of hostility and negativity perfectly balances the optimistic facade described earlier, making it the best choice for the blank.

Strategy 5: Double the Power in Multi-Blank Questions

In two- or three-blank Text Completion questions, elimination becomes even more powerful because each blank acts like a separate puzzle. Eliminating one wrong option often helps solve the other blank. Let’s see this with an example:

Example (Two-Blank Text Completion):

Her writing, while praised for its clarity, was criticized for being too ______ and lacking the ______ that might have made it more engaging.

(A) straightforward … flourish
(B) pedestrian … vitality
(C) lucid … opacity
(D) trite … nuance
(E) simplistic … subtlety

Explanation:

The word “criticized” in the first part of the sentence signals that the blank must take on a negative meaning, which rules out options like straightforward and lucid, since both are clearly positive. Thus, options A and C are eliminated.

For the second blank, the key phrase is “lacking something desirable,” which signals that the missing quality must be positive and engaging. Of the given options—vitality, nuance, subtlety—only vitality fits, since it alone represents the kind of quality that makes writing more vivid and engaging.

When taken together, the pair that best fits is pedestrian—meaning ordinary or unimaginative—for the first blank, and vitality—meaning energy or liveliness—for the second.

Correct answer: (B).

Strategy 6: Test Options by Sound and Flow

When all else fails, plug the remaining words into the blank and read the sentence aloud in your head. Often, the sentence will “ring true” with the right option.

This is especially useful if you’re a regular reader across disciplines, since GRE often borrows terms from economics, science, or literature.

Example (Text Completion, Economics context):

The economist argued that the government’s policy was merely a ______ measure, unlikely to address the long-term structural problems in the market.

(A) palliative
(B) panacea
(C) equilibrium
(D) austerity
(E) recession

Explanation:

When you approach this sentence, the trick is to mentally insert each option into the blank and listen to how it flows. Even without knowing all the definitions, a strong reading habit often gives you an intuitive sense of what “sounds right.” 

In this case, options such as panacea, equilibrium, austerity, and recession sound awkward in the sentence. This is because, even if you don’t know their meanings, all of them are used primarily as nouns, whereas the blank requires an adjective that describes the type of measure.

The word palliative, however, fits smoothly both grammatically and stylistically: it describes a measure that eases symptoms without addressing the root cause, which aligns perfectly with the idea of a policy that is “unlikely to address long-term structural problems.” 

Thus, even without precise knowledge of the vocabulary, careful attention to the grammatical role and natural rhythm of the sentence leads you to the correct answer.

Correct answer: (A) palliative.

Final words:

So, I hope you’ve picked up a few strategies to keep in your back pocket for those tough GRE moments when unfamiliar words appear. All is not lost if you don’t know the exact definitions of one or two—or even several—of the answer choices.

By leaning on elimination, word roots, tone, grammar, and even the “sound” of a sentence, you can often make an educated guess that dramatically improves your odds. That said, it’s important to remember that these tricks are support strategies, not replacements for genuine learning.

The GRE is ultimately testing the depth and flexibility of your vocabulary, and the only way to build that foundation is through steady reading and active vocabulary acquisition. Not just rote memorization of word lists, but true engagement: noticing words in context, connecting them to roots and connotations, and reinforcing them through use.

If you’d like to practice the tricks you learned above, here’s a sample GRE practice set based for you.