Sentence puzzles · 2 guides
Cloze and shuffled sentences study guides
Two guides to the sentence puzzles found in many 11+ English papers: filling the gaps in a passage, and putting jumbled words back in order.
What to expect in the 11+
In a cloze test, words or letters are missing from a sentence or passage and you choose or write what goes in each gap. It tests vocabulary, spelling and grammar all at once.
In a shuffled sentence question the words of a sentence are mixed up, often with one extra word added. You put the sentence back together in your head and find the word that isn't needed.
Both question types reward careful reading: the words around a gap, and the grammar of a sentence, tell you a lot.
The guides
- Guide 1
Cloze: filling in the blanks
How to answer 11+ cloze questions: choose the word that fits each gap using meaning, tense, a or an and joining words, and complete missing letters.
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- Guide 2
Shuffled sentences
Solve 11+ shuffled sentence questions: rebuild the sentence around its verb, find the one extra word, and spot two words that need to swap.
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Tips for sentence puzzles
- Read the whole sentence (or passage) before you fill in any gap.
- Use grammar clues: a or an, one or many, past or present.
- Read the finished sentence back to yourself: does it sound right and make sense?
- Start a shuffled sentence by finding the doing word (verb) and who is doing it.
- Don't spend too long on one question: mark it, move on and come back.
- Practise with short timed sets: these questions are often done quickly in the real test.