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 “proper”:
C — suitable. “proper” means adj. correct or suitable. Study “proper” →
Select the best synonym for the word “extravagant”:
C — lavish. “extravagant” means adj. spending too much money or using too much of something. Study “extravagant” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “dreamlike”:
D — surreal. “dreamlike” means adj. having a quality of a dream. Study “dreamlike” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “trial”:
B — hearing. “trial” means n. a formal examination of evidence in court; a test of performance. Study “trial” →
Select the best synonym for the word “educate”:
D — instruct. “educate” means v. to teach or train someone. Study “educate” →
Select the best synonym for the word “worldwide”:
C — global. “worldwide” means adj. extending or reaching throughout the world. Study “worldwide” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “expected”:
C — anticipated. “expected” means adj. regarded as likely to happen. Study “expected” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “owed”:
A — indebted. “owed” means v. to have a debt to pay. Study “owed” →
Select the best synonym for the word “awaken”:
B — rouse. “awaken” means v. to stop sleeping or to make someone stop sleeping. Study “awaken” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “rise”:
D — ascend. “rise” means v. to move upward; to increase in amount or number. Study “rise” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “meddling”:
A — interference. “meddling” means n. the act of interfering in something. Study “meddling” →
Select the best synonym for the word “choose”:
B — select. “choose” means v. to select from a number of possibilities. Study “choose” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “abnormal”:
C — unusual. “abnormal” means adj. not usual or typical. Study “abnormal” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “guess”:
B — speculate. “guess” means v. to form an opinion or give an answer about something when you do not know much about it. Study “guess” →
Select the best synonym for the word “practicality”:
C — usefulness. “practicality” means n. the quality of being practical or useful. Study “practicality” →
She carefully cut the apple in ______ and shared it with her little brother.
C — half. “half” means n. one of two equal parts. Study “half” →
In the photo, tall snowy mountains rose up in the distant ______.
C — background. “background” means n. the part of a scene or picture that is farthest from the viewer. Study “background” →
The ______ old scholar had read many thousands of thick books.
B — learned. “learned” means adj. having much knowledge. Study “learned” →
The bright evening stars began to ______ in the clear, darkening sky.
A — shine. “shine” means v. to give off light. Study “shine” →
The whole crowd grew ______ as the final results were slowly announced.
D — tense. “tense” means adj. nervous and not relaxed. Study “tense” →
Books in the library are sorted into one ______ or another by subject.
B — category. “category” means n. a group of things that are similar in some way. Study “category” →
With great ______, the old village chief settled the very difficult dispute.
A — wisdom. “wisdom” means n. the ability to make good decisions based on knowledge and experience. Study “wisdom” →
For every fact in her essay, she carefully added a proper ______.
A — citation. “citation” means n. a reference to a source of information. Study “citation” →
Nothing at all would grow in the dry, ______ soil of the barren field.
A — infertile. “infertile” means adj. unable to reproduce. Study “infertile” →
As a true ______, she was always inventing clever, useful new gadgets.
A — innovator. “innovator” means n. a person who introduces new ideas or methods. Study “innovator” →
Remember to ______ a stamp before you mail the birthday letter.
C — affix. “affix” means v. to attach or stick something to something else. Study “affix” →
A simple bicycle is a cheap and healthy ______ of getting to work.
B — means. “means” means n. a method or way of doing something. Study “means” →
He did not want to ______ his friend by mentioning the silly mistake.
D — embarrass. “embarrass” means v. to make someone feel awkward or ashamed. Study “embarrass” →
The ______ feather pillow felt absolutely wonderful after the long day.
B — soft. “soft” means adj. easy to press, not hard or firm. Study “soft” →
The workers began to ______ a deep, wide hole for the new swimming pool.
A — dig. “dig” means v. to break up and move earth with a tool or machine. Study “dig” →
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.