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.
Choose the best synonym for the word “drain”:
B — empty. “drain” means v. to remove liquid from something. Study “drain” →
Select the best synonym for the word “shake”:
A — vibrate. “shake” means v. to move something back and forth or up and down with quick movements. Study “shake” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “misrepresent”:
A — distort. “misrepresent” means v. to give a false or misleading account of the nature of. Study “misrepresent” →
Select the best synonym for the word “rephrase”:
D — reword. “rephrase” means v. to say or write something in a different way. Study “rephrase” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “attack”:
A — assault. “attack” means v. to try to hurt or damage something or someone; n. an act of trying to hurt or damage. Study “attack” →
Select the best synonym for the word “between”:
B — amid. “between” means prep. in the space separating two things. Study “between” →
Select the best synonym for the word “loud”:
D — noisy. “loud” means adj. making a lot of noise. Study “loud” →
Select the best synonym for the word “temperament”:
A — disposition. “temperament” means n. a person''s nature or disposition. Study “temperament” →
Select the best synonym for the word “damaging”:
D — harmful. “damaging” means adj. causing harm or injury. Study “damaging” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “tire”:
D — exhaust. “tire” means v. to become weary or exhausted. Study “tire” →
Select the best synonym for the word “seriousness”:
C — gravity. “seriousness” means n. the quality of being serious. Study “seriousness” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “medicine”:
A — remedy. “medicine” means n. a substance used to treat illness. Study “medicine” →
Select the best synonym for the word “speed”:
A — velocity. “speed” means n. how fast something moves. Study “speed” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “famous”:
C — renowned. “famous” means adj. known about by many people. Study “famous” →
Select the best synonym for the word “lessen”:
B — diminish. “lessen” means v. to make or become less. Study “lessen” →
Please ______ the thick soup slowly so that it does not burn on the bottom.
C — stir. “stir” means v. to mix a liquid or other substance by moving an object such as a spoon in a circular pattern. Study “stir” →
After the long, tiring hike, they ate their thick sandwiches ______.
D — hungrily. “hungrily” means adv. in a way that shows a strong desire for food. Study “hungrily” →
A heavy hammer is the perfect ______ for driving a nail into hard wood.
D — tool. “tool” means n. an instrument used to perform a task. Study “tool” →
The ______ repairs to the main road caused traffic jams for many weeks.
D — ongoing. “ongoing” means adj. continuing; still in progress. Study “ongoing” →
The company offered a ______ reward to anyone who found the lost dog.
C — monetary. “monetary” means adj. related to money or currency. Study “monetary” →
The colorful poster had a ______ design that drew everyone's eye.
A — catching. “catching” means adj. attractive or interesting. Study “catching” →
He was ______ for school because the old bus had broken down.
C — late. “late” means adj. doing something or taking place after the expected, proper, or usual time. Study “late” →
The small child was ______ of the loud thunder rumbling outside.
D — afraid. “afraid” means adj. feeling fear or anxiety. Study “afraid” →
She began to ______ what could be hidden inside the mysterious old box.
C — wonder. “wonder” means v. to think about something with curiosity or doubt. Study “wonder” →
The ______ mystery novel kept her reading late into the quiet night.
B — engrossing. “engrossing” means adj. absorbing all one''s attention or interest. Study “engrossing” →
Planting many more trees can help ______ the harmful effects of pollution.
A — mitigate. “mitigate” means v. to make less severe or serious. Study “mitigate” →
The thief used a false beard to ______ himself from the searching police.
A — disguise. “disguise” means v. to change the appearance to hide identity. Study “disguise” →
She found a good ______ working at the busy brand-new bookstore.
A — job. “job” means n. work that a person does regularly to earn money. Study “job” →
The loud construction noise outside began to ______ the quiet class.
A — disrupt. “disrupt” means v. to interrupt or cause disorder. Study “disrupt” →
The ______ cold wind cut straight through their thin summer jackets.
B — penetrating. “penetrating” means adj. able to make a way through or into something. Study “penetrating” →
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.