In each question, a three-letter word is missing from between two groups of letters shown in capitals, with the gap marked by three question marks in brackets. The missing word must complete the letters on the left (by joining on to the end of them) AND start the letters on the right (by joining on to the front of them), so that two new, complete, real words are formed. Only one of the five lettered options fits correctly on both sides. Choose the correct three-letter word from options A) to E). Study the worked example before you begin, then work through the questions in order.
Worked example. SEA ( ? ? ? ) G
Find the three-letter word which completes the word on the left and starts the word on the right.
A) TON B) FOR C) SON D) MEN E) DAY Answer: C. SEA + SON = SEASON (a real word) and SON + G = SONG (a real word), so SON is correct. TON does not work on either side (SEATON and TONG are not standard words). FOR does not work on either side (SEAFOR and FORG are not real words). MEN half-works: SEA + MEN = SEAMEN is a real word, but MEN + G = MENG is not, so it fails the right-hand check. DAY does not work on either side (SEADAY and DAYG are not real words).
1
CAR ( ? ? ? ) AL
A) PET
B) ROT
C) PEN
D) VET
E) CAT
(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)
2
MAN ( ? ? ? ) NT
A) ANT
B) AGE
C) ARM
D) TLE
E) SCE
(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)
3
W ( ? ? ? ) ER
A) ARM
B) OTH
C) ORD
D) ICE
E) OWL
(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)
4
C ( ? ? ? ) MEAL
A) EAT
B) OWN
C) ARE
D) OAT
E) OAR
(Total for Question 4 is 1 mark)
5
PR ( ? ? ? ) A
A) ICE
B) ARE
C) OWN
D) EAR
E) IDE
(Total for Question 5 is 1 mark)
6
FOR ( ? ? ? ) ING
A) MAT
B) MER
C) SAV
D) CAT
E) TEN
(Total for Question 6 is 1 mark)
7
WIN ( ? ? ? ) N
A) BIN
B) TER
C) TEN
D) NER
E) TUR
(Total for Question 7 is 1 mark)
8
SW ( ? ? ? ) TH
A) EET
B) BIR
C) EAR
D) AER
E) IMP
(Total for Question 8 is 1 mark)
9
KN ( ? ? ? ) ER
A) ICE
B) ELF
C) ACK
D) OWN
E) OTH
(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)
10
SW ( ? ? ? ) Y
A) EAT
B) COP
C) ICE
D) OWL
E) ARM
(Total for Question 10 is 1 mark)
11
PLA ( ? ? ? ) TLE
A) NET
B) GUE
C) BAT
D) TEN
E) ICE
(Total for Question 11 is 1 mark)
12
STA ( ? ? ? ) AK
A) TEN
B) BLE
C) ICE
D) RCH
E) CLO
(Total for Question 12 is 1 mark)
13
CL ( ? ? ? ) ER
A) ASH
B) ORD
C) OTH
D) ICE
E) OWL
(Total for Question 13 is 1 mark)
14
WH ( ? ? ? ) EN
A) ICE
B) OWL
C) ISK
D) EAT
E) OFT
(Total for Question 14 is 1 mark)
15
SC ( ? ? ? ) NA
A) ENT
B) SAU
C) ICE
D) OWL
E) ARE
(Total for Question 15 is 1 mark)
16
SH ( ? ? ? ) S
A) ORE
B) EEP
C) HER
D) IGL
E) OST
(Total for Question 16 is 1 mark)
17
ST ( ? ? ? ) SELF
A) ICE
B) ONE
C) OWL
D) ORM
E) HER
(Total for Question 17 is 1 mark)
18
TH ( ? ? ? ) ATE
A) ICK
B) CRE
C) ORN
D) ICE
E) OWL
(Total for Question 18 is 1 mark)
19
ISL ( ? ? ? ) ROID
A) ICE
B) OWL
C) ETS
D) AND
E) STE
(Total for Question 19 is 1 mark)
20
SP ( ? ? ? ) NESS
A) ARE
B) SAD
C) OWL
D) ELF
E) ILL
(Total for Question 20 is 1 mark)
21
PR ( ? ? ? ) BERG
A) ICE
B) IDE
C) ISE
D) OWL
E) ELF
(Total for Question 21 is 1 mark)
22
C ( ? ? ? ) NUE
A) ICK
B) AVE
C) ELF
D) ARE
E) OWL
(Total for Question 22 is 1 mark)
23
TR ( ? ? ? ) MENT
A) ICK
B) PAY
C) AIL
D) ICE
E) OWL
(Total for Question 23 is 1 mark)
24
DR ( ? ? ? ) LING
A) OWL
B) ICE
C) EAM
D) INK
E) DAR
(Total for Question 24 is 1 mark)
25
FR ( ? ? ? ) RICH
A) EAK
B) ONT
C) OWL
D) ICE
E) OST
(Total for Question 25 is 1 mark)
26
BRE ( ? ? ? ) ER
A) AST
B) ADS
C) OTH
D) ICE
E) OWL
(Total for Question 26 is 1 mark)
Mark scheme · EP.V6 Missing Three-Letter Word
Question 1
B1 A) PET - CAR+PET=CARPET and PET+AL=PETAL, both real words.
Answer: A) PET
Question 2
B1 B) AGE - MAN+AGE=MANAGE and AGE+NT=AGENT, both real words.
Answer: B) AGE
Question 3
B1 C) ORD - W+ORD=WORD and ORD+ER=ORDER, both real words.
Answer: C) ORD
Question 4
B1 D) OAT - C+OAT=COAT and OAT+MEAL=OATMEAL, both real words.
Answer: D) OAT
Question 5
B1 E) IDE - PR+IDE=PRIDE and IDE+A=IDEA, both real words.
Answer: E) IDE
Question 6
B1 A) MAT - FOR+MAT=FORMAT and MAT+ING=MATING, both real words.
Answer: A) MAT
Question 7
B1 B) TER - WIN+TER=WINTER and TER+N=TERN, both real words.
Answer: B) TER
Question 8
B1 C) EAR - SW+EAR=SWEAR and EAR+TH=EARTH, both real words.
Answer: C) EAR
Question 9
B1 D) OWN - KN+OWN=KNOWN and OWN+ER=OWNER, both real words.
Answer: D) OWN
Question 10
B1 E) ARM - SW+ARM=SWARM and ARM+Y=ARMY, both real words.
Answer: E) ARM
Question 11
B1 A) NET - PLA+NET=PLANET and NET+TLE=NETTLE, both real words.
Answer: A) NET
Question 12
B1 B) BLE - STA+BLE=STABLE and BLE+AK=BLEAK, both real words.
Answer: B) BLE
Question 13
B1 C) OTH - CL+OTH=CLOTH and OTH+ER=OTHER, both real words.
Answer: C) OTH
Question 14
B1 D) EAT - WH+EAT=WHEAT and EAT+EN=EATEN, both real words.
Answer: D) EAT
Question 15
B1 E) ARE - SC+ARE=SCARE and ARE+NA=ARENA, both real words.
Answer: E) ARE
Question 16
B1 A) ORE - SH+ORE=SHORE and ORE+S=ORES, both real words.
Answer: A) ORE
Question 17
B1 B) ONE - ST+ONE=STONE and ONE+SELF=ONESELF, both real words.
Answer: B) ONE
Question 18
B1 C) ORN - TH+ORN=THORN and ORN+ATE=ORNATE, both real words.
Answer: C) ORN
Question 19
B1 D) AND - ISL+AND=ISLAND and AND+ROID=ANDROID, both real words.
Answer: D) AND
Question 20
B1 E) ILL - SP+ILL=SPILL and ILL+NESS=ILLNESS, both real words.
Answer: E) ILL
Question 21
B1 A) ICE - PR+ICE=PRICE and ICE+BERG=ICEBERG, both real words.
Answer: A) ICE
Question 22
B1 B) AVE - C+AVE=CAVE and AVE+NUE=AVENUE, both real words.
Answer: B) AVE
Question 23
B1 C) AIL - TR+AIL=TRAIL and AIL+MENT=AILMENT, both real words.
Answer: C) AIL
Question 24
B1 D) INK - DR+INK=DRINK and INK+LING=INKLING, both real words.
Answer: D) INK
Question 25
B1 E) OST - FR+OST=FROST and OST+RICH=OSTRICH, both real words.
Answer: E) OST
Question 26
B1 A) AST - BRE+AST=BREAST and AST+ER=ASTER, both real words.