34 Verbal Reasoning questions — 17 synonym, 17 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.
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “unrest”: During the meeting, there was a lot of unrest among the participants.
B — chaos. “unrest” means n. troubled, disturbed state. Study “unrest” →
We prefer to shop at the ______ market just down our street.
B — local. “local” means adj. nearby; n. person from area. Study “local” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “disability”:
B — Impairment. “disability” means n. physical/mental condition that limits. Study “disability” →
The caterpillar enters a new ______ of life when it forms a cocoon.
C — phase. “phase” means n. stage, period. Study “phase” →
Which of the following words is a synonym for “labor”?
A — Work. “labor” means n./v. work, workers. Study “labor” →
The experiment ended in ______ when the rocket refused to launch.
C — failure. “failure” means n. lack of success. Study “failure” →
Choose the synonym for the word “cause”:
C — reason. “cause” means n./v. reason, make happen. Study “cause” →
He began to ______ angrily under his breath about the long delay.
D — mutter. “mutter” means v. speak quietly, mumble. Study “mutter” →
Which word is closest in meaning to “residence”?
A — Home. “residence” means n. place where one lives. Study “residence” →
The ______ area of the city is full of factories and warehouses.
B — industrial. “industrial” means adj. relating to industry. Study “industrial” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “supplement”.
A — Enhance. “supplement” means n./v. addition; add to. Study “supplement” →
Eating well and exercising daily is part of a healthy ______.
C — lifestyle. “lifestyle” means n. way of living. Study “lifestyle” →
Choose the word that is the best synonym for “minute” as used in the following sentence: “The minute details of the painting were astonishing.”
A — Tiny. “minute” means adj. extremely small. Study “minute” →
This recipe requires ______ measurements of every single ingredient.
A — precise. “precise” means adj. exact, accurate. Study “precise” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “examine”: The scientist had to examine the samples thoroughly before making a conclusion.
B — inspect. “examine” means v. inspect, check closely. Study “examine” →
In the busy office, Sarah had to learn how to __________ constant interruptions while maintaining her focus on detailed projects.
A — Tolerate. “tolerate” means v. put up with, allow. Study “tolerate” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “revolution”:
D — uprising. “revolution” means n. big change, political overthrow. Study “revolution” →
She went to the bank to ______ her paycheck into her account.
B — deposit. “deposit” means v./n. put money, lay down. Study “deposit” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “festival”:
A — Event. “festival” means n. celebration, holiday. Study “festival” →
The new medicine had a powerful ______ on the patient's recovery.
D — effect. “effect” means n. result, influence. Study “effect” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “motive” as used in the sentence: “The detective could not determine the suspect”s motive for committing the crime.''
A — intention. “motive” means n. reason for doing something. Study “motive” →
It was hard to ______ on homework with the television blaring.
B — focus. “focus” means v./n. concentrate, center. Study “focus” →
Choose the synonym for the word “judicial” as used in this sentence: “The judicial system plays a crucial role in upholding the laws of the country.”
B — Legal. “judicial” means adj. relating to courts or judges. Study “judicial” →
The ______ of the students voted to hold the dance on Friday.
B — majority. “majority” means n. more than half. Study “majority” →
Choose the synonym for the following word: Knack
A — Talent. “knack” means n. special skill or talent. Study “knack” →
During the long drought, clean water became dangerously ______.
A — scarce. “scarce” means adj. not enough, rare. Study “scarce” →
Choose the word that is most similar in meaning to “constant”.
B — Steady. “constant” means adj. not changing, continuous. Study “constant” →
With a fresh coat of paint, we can ______ this dull room into a bright studio.
C — transform. “transform” means v. change in form. Study “transform” →
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to “former”:
A — prior. “former” means adj. previous, earlier. Study “former” →
The team's dangerous ______ was to deliver medicine to the flooded town.
C — mission. “mission” means n. an important task or goal. Study “mission” →
Choose the best synonym for the word “paraphrase”: The teacher asked the student to paraphrase the paragraph to show understanding.
C — Reword. “paraphrase” means v./n. express in other words. Study “paraphrase” →
A thick ______ of gray dust covered all the old furniture.
A — layer. “layer” means n. level, sheet on top of something. Study “layer” →
Which of the following is a synonym for the word “gracious”?
B — Courteous. “gracious” means adj. kind, polite, courteous. Study “gracious” →
As a new ______, she worked hard to learn the local language.
A — immigrant. “immigrant” means n. person who moves to another country. Study “immigrant” →
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.
34 — 17 synonym questions and 17 sentence-completion questions, the same roughly-even split the real ISEE Verbal Reasoning section uses.
No. Every Lower 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.