Complete the Words rewards recognizing common academic word families (rep-, eval-, schol-, and similar roots with predictable endings like -tion, -ment, -ity) more than it rewards knowing a large number of individual rare words. Building this specific recognition skill is more efficient than general vocabulary memorization for this task.
Take the free TOEFL Benchmark Test and get your estimated band score in about 45 minutes.
Instead of memorizing isolated vocabulary, group words by shared roots and common academic endings: -tion words (evaluation, replication, registration), -ment words (development, requirement, assessment), -ity words (ability, university, complexity). Practicing recognition of the pattern, not just individual words, transfers to words you haven't specifically studied before.
The specific skill this task tests is completing a word from a partial spelling plus context — so practice should mirror that exactly. Take passages of academic text, black out the second half of academic-sounding words, and practice completing them from the remaining letters plus context, rather than just reading vocabulary lists start to finish.
The specific vocabulary that actually shows up across TOEFL Reading and Listening.