Fill in the Blanks is one of the shortest tasks on the Duolingo English Test. You read one sentence, one word in it is unfinished, and you type the missing letters before a 20-second timer runs out. This guide explains what the screen shows, how many of these questions you will meet, how they are scored and which subscores they feed. Then you can try 15 practice sentences in the same format, with answers and explanations.
Fill in the Blanks is a separate task from Interactive Reading. If you have seen a passage where you pick each missing word from a list of options, that is part of Interactive Reading, not this task. In Fill in the Blanks there is no list and no passage: you type the end of one word in one sentence.
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The on-screen direction is “Complete the sentence with the correct word.” You read a sentence with one unfinished word. The beginning of the word is already shown, and you type the missing letters to complete it.
The sentences come from many kinds of writing, such as stories, textbooks, news articles, personal writing and conversations, so expect everyday and academic vocabulary side by side.
The task is adaptive, which means the difficulty of the sentences you see can change as the test goes on. If one sentence feels much harder than the last, that is normal.
| What you see | One sentence with one unfinished word; the beginning of the word is shown |
| What you do | Type the missing letters to complete the word |
| Time | 20 seconds per question |
| How many | 6–9 questions per test |
| Scoring | Right or wrong; the word must be spelled correctly |
| Subscores | Reading, which also counts toward Literacy and Comprehension |
Sources: Duolingo English Test Official Guide 2026, pages 11–12; Duolingo English Test Scoring Guide for Teachers 2026, sections 2.6 and 3.2; Duolingo English Test Help Center articles “Fill in the Blanks” and “Test Structure”.
Each question is marked right or wrong, and you must spell the word correctly to get it right. A word with one wrong letter does not earn the point.
Guessing costs you nothing extra. Duolingo says you will not be penalized more for entering an incorrect answer than for skipping a question, so always type your best attempt before the timer ends.
The task is graded automatically: your response is compared with the correct response.
Your results count toward the Reading subscore. Reading is also half of two combined subscores: Literacy is the average of Reading and Writing, and Comprehension is the average of Reading and Listening. Like the overall score, every subscore is reported on a scale from 10 to 160.
Duolingo’s own advice is to read the whole sentence before you focus on the unfinished word. The words after the gap often decide the answer. In “She was too tir_ _ to finish the race”, the pattern “too … to” tells you an adjective is needed, so the word is tired.
The beginning of the word is your biggest clue. Think of the words that start with those letters, keep the ones that fit the meaning of the sentence, then check which one fits the grammar. In the practice items below, each underscore stands for one missing letter.
Look at the words right before and after the gap. A singular subject in the present simple needs -s on the verb. “Has” or “have” before the gap points to a past participle such as improved. A number such as “fifty” points to a plural noun. After “very” or “too”, check what the word describes: a noun needs an adjective (very quiet), a verb needs an adverb (very quickly).
Collocations are words that are commonly used together, such as “conduct research”, “heavy rain” or “reach a decision”. If you see “take a deep bre_ _ _”, the collocation makes breath the obvious answer. Learning common pairs like these gives you more clues to work with on this task.
Because the word must be spelled correctly, check the ending before you continue: -ance or -ence, -able or -ible, a single or double consonant. With only 20 seconds per question, do not spend that time changing an answer you are already fairly sure of.
Sentence: “Regular exercise can lower your blood pre_ _ _ _ _ and improve your sleep.”
Step 1, read the whole sentence: “lower your blood ___” needs a noun, something that can go up or down.
Step 2, use the letters and collocations: the word starts with p-r-e, and “blood pressure” is a common pair. “Presence” has the same length but makes no sense here.
Step 3, spell it: p-r-e-s-s-u-r-e, with a double s. The answer is pressure.
Each sentence has one unfinished word, and each underscore stands for one missing letter. Give yourself 20 seconds per sentence, write the full word, then check your answers in the next section.
The three levels are our own grouping to help you build up step by step. Duolingo does not label its questions this way, and in the real test the difficulty adapts to your answers.
Ignoring the letters on screen: a word can fit the meaning and still be wrong because it does not start with the letters you are given. “A glass of wa_ _ _” cannot be juice or milk.
Dropping the ending: -s, -ed and -ly carry the grammar. “Her pronunciation has improve” is wrong; “has improved” is right.
Singular and plural slips: ask whether the noun can be counted. Countable nouns take a plural after words like “many” or “fifty”, and we say fewer people but less water.
Spelling slips: the word must be spelled correctly, so one wrong or missing letter loses the question. Words like necessary, environment and accommodation are worth practising.
Making it more complicated than necessary: the right answer is often a common, simple word. Not every gap hides an advanced term.
Leaving it blank: Duolingo does not penalize a wrong answer more than a skipped one, so a reasonable guess is always worth typing.
The Method of “Active Recall”
When you meet a new word while reading, try to work out its meaning from the context before you look it up. The next day, cover the word, look only at its first two or three letters and try to recall the whole word, just as the task asks you to. Then use it in three sentences of your own, trying a different word form where one exists, for example decide, decision and decisive.
Practise Word Endings
Keep a list of endings that change a word’s class: -tion and -ment for nouns, -ive, -ous and -able for adjectives, -ly for adverbs. When you know which class the gap needs, the right ending follows.
Read the Same Kinds of Text the Test Uses
Fill in the Blanks sentences come from stories, textbooks, news articles, personal writing and conversations. Reading a little from each of these every day gives you the vocabulary range the task draws on.
Duolingo Official Practice Test: Duolingo offers a free practice test that you can take as many times as you want. Duolingo notes that it is shorter than the certified test, is not proctored, and gives a score range that is only an estimate, less accurate than the real test. Use it to get used to the interface and the timer.
Duolingo English Test Help Center: the official Fill in the Blanks article shows the question screen and the keyboard controls, for example using the arrow keys or TAB to move between blank spaces.
Fill in the Blanks rewards three habits: read the whole sentence, use the letters you are given together with the grammar around the gap, and spell the full word correctly within 20 seconds. Work through the 15 sentences above against the clock, note which ones you missed and why, then try them again a few days later.
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