30 Verbal Reasoning questions — Part 1: 15 synonym, Part 2: 15 sentence completion — in the ISEE's own four-option format. Every answer is explained, and every question links to its word's full study page.
Note: The real ISEE Primary Level (for applicants to grades 2–4) is Auditory Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and a writing sample — it has no Verbal Reasoning section, so the real Primary-level test never asks a synonym or sentence-completion question. This practice test borrows that question style from the Lower/Middle/Upper Verbal Reasoning format purely to help younger students build vocabulary early, ahead of the level where it is actually tested that way.
Select the best synonym for the word “equator”:
D — midline. “equator” means n. an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth. Study “equator” →
Select the best synonym for the word “message”:
A — communication. “message” means n. a piece of information sent or given to someone. Study “message” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “surface-level”:
D — cursory. “surface-level” means adj. relating to the outermost layer or appearance. Study “surface-level” →
Select the best synonym for the word “manager”:
A — supervisor. “manager” means n. a person responsible for controlling or administering an organization or group. Study “manager” →
Select the best synonym for the word “unhappy”:
A — sad. “unhappy” means adj. not happy or joyful. Study “unhappy” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “reflective”:
A — shiny. “reflective” means adj. capable of reflecting light or images. Study “reflective” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “engrave”:
A — etch. “engrave” means v. to cut or carve a design on a hard surface. Study “engrave” →
Select the best synonym for the word “board”:
B — plank. “board” means n. a flat piece of material used for a specific purpose. Study “board” →
Select the best synonym for the word “repayment”:
C — reimbursement. “repayment” means n. the act of paying back money that was borrowed. Study “repayment” →
Select the best synonym for the word “entrance”:
C — entryway. “entrance” means n. a place where you go in. Study “entrance” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “publicly”:
B — openly. “publicly” means adv. in a manner that is open to everyone. Study “publicly” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “narrow”:
A — slim. “narrow” means adj. having a small width; v. to make something less wide. Study “narrow” →
Select the best synonym for the word “dishonest”:
D — deceitful. “dishonest” means adj. not truthful or trustworthy. Study “dishonest” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “dwellers”:
C — residents. “dwellers” means n. people who live in a particular place. Study “dwellers” →
Select the best synonym for the word “approve”:
D — endorse. “approve” means v. to officially agree to or accept as satisfactory. Study “approve” →
Africa is a huge ______ with many different countries and rich cultures.
D — continent. “continent” means n. one of the main landmasses on Earth. Study “continent” →
She enjoys a rare, ______ cup of coffee, but never every single day.
C — occasional. “occasional” means adj. happening sometimes but not often. Study “occasional” →
Everyone at the long meeting shared their different ______ about the plan.
C — opinions. “opinions” means n. personal beliefs or judgments. Study “opinions” →
The kind ranger decided to ______ the healed wild bird back into the forest.
D — release. “release” means v. to set free or let go. Study “release” →
The speaker had to ______ for a moment to take a quick sip of water.
A — pause. “pause” means v. to stop briefly. Study “pause” →
A striped ______ dug a deep burrow beneath the ancient oak tree.
A — badger. “badger” means n. a burrowing animal with a broad back and thick fur. Study “badger” →
The professor wrote a long, ______ book about ancient Roman history.
B — scholarly. “scholarly” means adj. involving or relating to serious academic study. Study “scholarly” →
The newly ______ mayor promised to build more parks for the city.
A — elected. “elected” means adj. chosen by voting. Study “elected” →
The melting ice cream soon turned into a soft, ______ sticky puddle.
C — shapeless. “shapeless” means adj. without a clear form or shape. Study “shapeless” →
His clever ______ of every question made the reporters very suspicious.
C — evasion. “evasion” means n. the act of avoiding something. Study “evasion” →
In warm spring, many animals begin the yearly cycle of ______.
C — reproduction. “reproduction” means n. the process of producing babies, young animals, or plants. Study “reproduction” →
Many millions of people live in the busy ______ area around the capital.
A — metropolitan. “metropolitan” means adj. relating to a large city. Study “metropolitan” →
There were only ______ apples left in the big wooden bowl.
D — few. “few” means adj. a small number of. Study “few” →
The chef added the spices with great ______, so no flavor overpowered another.
C — subtlety. “subtlety” means n. the quality of being delicate or precise. Study “subtlety” →
After the long, bumpy journey, his hair and clothes looked very ______.
D — disheveled. “disheveled” means adj. untidy or messy. Study “disheveled” →
Score:
Every question below is now marked up: the correct answer is highlighted in red, and any option you picked that was wrong is highlighted in blue.
No. These are original synonym and sentence-completion questions written from the iSEE Vocab word bank, in the ISEE's own four-option Verbal Reasoning format. No retired or copyrighted ISEE/SSAT questions appear anywhere on this site.
The real ISEE Primary Level (for applicants to grades 2–4) is Auditory Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Mathematics and a writing sample — it has no Verbal Reasoning section, so the real Primary-level test never asks a synonym or sentence-completion question. This practice test borrows that question style from the Lower/Middle/Upper Verbal Reasoning format purely to help younger students build vocabulary early, ahead of the level where it is actually tested that way.
30 — Part 1 is 15 synonym questions, Part 2 is 15 sentence-completion questions, the same roughly-even split the real ISEE Verbal Reasoning section uses.
No. Every Primary Level practice test on this site draws from a disjoint slice of the word bank, so Test 1, Test 2 and every other numbered test at this level use entirely different questions.
Yes. The ISEE gives no penalty for a wrong answer — a blank scores the same as a wrong guess, which is zero — so answer every question even when you have to guess.