Free word game — instant play, no signup, no download
Fill the Blank gives you a well-known saying, proverb or fact with one word removed, and asks you to supply it. It is a cued-recall test rather than a vocabulary test — you almost certainly know the phrase, and the question is whether the context is enough to pull the missing word out.
A phrase appears with one word replaced by a blank.
Read the surrounding context for the cue.
Type the missing word.
Correct answers load the next phrase.
Your score is the number completed.
Cued recall and semantic priming — using context to retrieve something you know but cannot produce cold. It is the difference between recognising an answer and generating it, which is the harder of the two. Another word game to try next: Vocabulary Builder.
Read the whole phrase before attempting the blank. The word after the gap constrains it as much as the word before.
Say it aloud. The rhythm of a familiar saying often supplies the missing word when meaning does not.
Count the syllables the phrase wants. Most proverbs have a metre and the gap has a shape.
If it is on the tip of your tongue, move on and come back. Forcing retrieval tends to entrench the block.
They are a mix of proverbs, common sayings and widely known facts, all in standard English.
Close spellings are accepted. The test is recall, not orthography.
It is demanding for them, because it assumes familiarity with English idiom. Word Match is a gentler starting point.
Recognition and recall use different amounts of retrieval effort. Recognition only needs a match; recall needs you to generate the candidate yourself.