PTE Reading Fill in the Blanks: Approach and Practice Tips

In RW-FIB, you are presented with a passage of approximately 300 words with several blanks. Each blank has a dropdown menu containing four or five word options, and you must select the most appropriate word for each blank. Typically, there are four to five blanks per passage, and you will encounter two to three RW-FIB items in your exam. This question type is particularly important because it contributes to both Reading and Writing scores, making it one of the higher-value tasks. The words in the dropdown menus are usually similar in meaning or form, requiring you to distinguish between near-synonyms, words with similar prefixes or suffixes, or words that differ in connotation or collocation patterns. For example, a blank might offer choices like 'affect,' 'effect,' 'infect,' and 'defect' — all related in form but very different in meaning and usage. Success requires not just knowing what words mean but understanding how they function in context.

In R-FIB, you see a passage with blanks, and below the passage is a list of words. You must drag and drop the correct words into the appropriate blanks. The word list contains more words than there are blanks, so some words are distractors that do not fit anywhere. This format tests your ability to read for context and identify which words complete the passage logically and grammatically. R-FIB contributes only to your Reading score, but it typically appears multiple times in the exam — usually four to five items. The cumulative point value is significant. The drag-and-drop format means there is no dropdown menu to narrow your choices for each specific blank, making it somewhat harder than RW-FIB. You need to consider all the available words against all the blanks to find the best overall fit. This global reasoning requirement makes R-FIB particularly challenging for students who try to fill blanks one at a time without considering the bigger picture.

Before selecting an option, read the entire sentence containing the blank, and if possible, the sentences before and after it. Context clues often determine the correct answer. Look for signal words that indicate the logical relationship between ideas: contrast signals (however, although, despite) suggest the blank word should contrast with surrounding information; addition signals (furthermore, moreover, also) suggest continuation of the same idea; cause-effect signals (therefore, consequently, because) indicate a logical result or reason. Also pay attention to the grammatical context. Is the blank preceded by an article (a, the)? Then you need a noun. Is it preceded by a modal verb (should, must, can)? Then you need a base form verb. Does the sentence require a positive or negative connotation to maintain logical consistency? These grammatical and logical constraints often eliminate two or three of the four options immediately, making your choice much easier. Always check your selected word by reading the complete sentence with it inserted to verify that it sounds natural and makes logical sense.

Collocations — words that naturally go together in English — are one of the most powerful tools for RW-FIB. Many blanks can be solved by recognizing common word partnerships. For example, 'make a decision' (not 'do a decision'), 'conduct research' (not 'perform research'), 'pose a threat' (not 'create a threat'), and 'draw a conclusion' (not 'pull a conclusion'). If one of the dropdown options forms a recognized collocation with adjacent words, it is very likely the correct answer. Building collocation awareness requires extensive reading. When you encounter new vocabulary, do not just learn the word in isolation — learn the words it typically appears with. Keep a collocation journal where you record phrases rather than individual words. For instance, instead of just learning 'significant,' record 'significant improvement,' 'significant contribution,' 'significant impact,' and 'significant difference.' The GoPTE platform includes vocabulary building features that emphasize collocations in context, which directly supports your FIB preparation.

When you are unsure of the correct answer, systematic elimination is your best friend. Start by identifying options that are grammatically impossible — wrong part of speech, wrong verb form, wrong number agreement. Then eliminate options that are semantically inappropriate — they might be real words with valid meanings but make no sense in this specific context. Finally, compare the remaining options based on collocation, connotation, and precise meaning. For example, if the options are 'adapt,' 'adopt,' 'adept,' and 'adorn,' and the sentence is about a company implementing a new policy, you can quickly eliminate 'adept' (adjective, not a verb in this context) and 'adorn' (wrong meaning). Between 'adapt' and 'adopt,' the collocation 'adopt a policy' is standard English while 'adapt a policy' implies modifying rather than implementing. This systematic process works even when you are not 100 percent certain of the answer, because it maximizes your probability of choosing correctly.

Before attempting to fill any blanks, read the entire passage to understand its overall topic and argument. This gives you a mental framework that guides your word selection. Knowing that the passage is about climate change policy, for example, helps you recognize which words from the bank are thematically appropriate and which are distractors from unrelated domains. During your first reading, note the grammatical requirements of each blank. Mark whether each blank needs a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Then scan the word bank and categorize the available words by part of speech. This immediately narrows the candidates for each blank and reveals which words are likely distractors. If you have five blanks all requiring nouns but the word bank includes three adjectives, those adjectives are probably distractors.

Not all blanks are equally difficult. Some have strong contextual clues that point clearly to one word, while others are more ambiguous. Start with the blanks where you feel most confident. Filling these first reduces the word bank and makes the remaining blanks easier by process of elimination. Look for blanks where the surrounding context is very specific. Phrases like 'the ___ of evidence suggests' strongly point to a word like 'weight' or 'body,' while 'has a ___ impact on' points to an adjective like 'significant' or 'profound.' These high-confidence blanks should be filled first. Then move to less certain blanks, using the reduced word bank and the completed passage context to guide your choices. This approach is especially effective when combined with the understanding of PTE scoring detailed in our scoring system overview, which confirms that there is no negative marking for incorrect answers — so you should always fill every blank with your best guess rather than leaving any empty.

After filling all blanks, read the complete passage one final time to check that it makes coherent sense. Listen for awkward phrasing, illogical connections, or grammatical inconsistencies that might indicate a misplaced word. This final review often catches errors that were not obvious when considering blanks in isolation. Pay particular attention to the logical flow between sentences. Each sentence should connect smoothly to the next, and the words you have selected should maintain this flow. If a sentence seems to contradict the previous one or introduce an idea that does not fit the passage's argument, reconsider the word you selected for that blank. Sometimes swapping two words between blanks resolves both issues simultaneously, as the words were correct in meaning but assigned to the wrong positions.

The Academic Word List (AWL), developed by Averil Coxhead, contains 570 word families that appear frequently in academic texts. These words are overrepresented in PTE passages and are prime candidates for FIB answers. Studying the AWL systematically gives you the vocabulary foundation needed for PTE Reading tasks. Focus not just on knowing the meaning of each word but on understanding its common collocations, typical sentence positions, and the other forms the word can take (e.g., 'analyze, analysis, analytical, analytically'). Beyond the AWL, build vocabulary through daily reading of academic and journalistic texts. Sources like The Economist, Scientific American, and university research summaries expose you to the register and vocabulary level that PTE passages draw from. When you encounter unfamiliar words, use the context to guess the meaning before looking it up. This context-guessing practice directly mirrors the skill you need for FIB tasks in the exam.

Vocabulary lists and flashcards are useful starting points, but true vocabulary mastery comes from encountering and using words in context. Research on vocabulary acquisition consistently shows that words learned in meaningful context are retained longer and used more accurately than words learned in isolation. This means that reading extensively — not just studying word lists — is the most effective long-term vocabulary building strategy. Aim to read at least 30 minutes of English text daily from a variety of sources. As you read, highlight words you do not know or words used in unfamiliar ways. Look them up after finishing the reading session, and add them to your vocabulary journal along with the sentence in which they appeared. Review your journal weekly, testing yourself on both meaning and usage. Over time, this process builds a rich, contextualized vocabulary that serves you well not only on FIB tasks but across all Reading and Writing components of the PTE. For a comprehensive study approach, our 30-day PTE study plan includes daily vocabulary building activities integrated with practice for all question types.

When you complete a FIB practice question, do not just check whether your answers were right or wrong. For every incorrect answer, analyze why you chose the wrong option and why the correct option was better. Was it a vocabulary gap — you did not know one of the words? Was it a collocation error — you chose a word that seemed right in meaning but does not naturally pair with the surrounding words? Was it a grammatical error — you selected the wrong part of speech? Keep a log of your errors categorized by type. Over time, patterns will emerge that reveal your specific weaknesses. If most of your errors are collocation-based, increase your collocation study time. If they are vocabulary gaps, expand your AWL study. If they are grammatical, review the relevant grammar rules. This targeted approach is far more efficient than simply doing more practice questions without reflection.

The most common pitfall is rushing through FIB questions without reading the full passage. Students who jump straight to the blanks without understanding the overall context make more errors than those who invest time in reading comprehension first. Another common mistake is choosing a word because it looks or sounds like the correct answer without verifying that it makes grammatical and logical sense in context. Overconfidence with familiar words is another trap. Sometimes the most obvious-looking option is a distractor designed to catch students who do not read carefully. Always verify your choice against the full sentence context. Finally, do not leave blanks empty. There is no penalty for wrong answers in PTE, so even a guess gives you a chance at earning a point. Fill every blank, even if you are unsure. For further strategies on building your reading skills holistically, including Reorder Paragraphs techniques that complement your FIB preparation, see our dedicated Reorder Paragraphs strategy guide.