Verbal Reasoning Odd One Out
The SHARE method in three minutes — one real question, solved step by step.
An Odd One Out question prints five words. Three of them are related in some way. You find the two that don't go with the three, and mark both of them.
So don't hunt the odd ones. Hunt the three. In most questions the three mean the same thing, and all five words sit on one topic. Now and then the three are one kind of thing instead, like three flowers.
In the exam you mark the two words themselves, lettered A to E. The examples on this page offer pairs of words instead.
The video above and the worked example below take apart the same question. The video marks the two words, A and D; here they are the pair in option B. Same two words.
The method
Five steps: scan all five, hunt for three that mean the same, add a label, rule out the other two, exactly two left — and their first letters spell SHARE, because the three share a meaning and the two don't.
- Step 1 of 5
Scan all five
Read every word before you decide anything. The first link you notice is often a topic that covers all five, and that picks out nothing. - Step 2 of 5
Hunt for three that mean the same
Not just three on the same topic. Three you could swap for each other in a sentence. - Step 3 of 5
Add a label
Put what the three share into a few words. "They all mean happy." - Step 4 of 5
Rule out the other two
Test the label on each of the two left over. Neither may fit it. If one does, your label is too wide, so hunt again. - Step 5 of 5
Exactly two left
Mark both of them. Two words, never one.
About 30 seconds each.
Watch for these traps
We worked through all 15 Odd One Out questions in GL's own practice papers. In 13 of them, the three mean the same.
- Same topic is not same meaning. One topic often covers all five words. In tiny, sturdy, ancient, miniature, little, all five describe things, but only tiny, miniature and little mean small.
- The two left over often go together. A pair of their own doesn't make them the group. In tractor, yacht, canoe, sledge, ferry, tractor and sledge both travel on land. But the group is the three that travel on water: yacht, canoe and ferry.
- A spelling pattern is not a group. In gleam, glisten, sparkle, crumble, wobble, sparkle, crumble and wobble end the same way, but they don't mean the same. Gleam, glisten and sparkle all mean shine. In 5 of GL's 15 questions, the letters make a tidy three, and it is never the answer.
Go by meaning, never by letters. Stuck? Find the three you could swap in a sentence, then mark the other two. Never leave it blank.
Try these yourself
Now have a go yourself — tap the pair that don't belong.
Related
- The complete 11+ question-type guide
- VR: Closest Meaning — the same skill: spotting words that mean the same
- NVR: Odd One Out — the same hunt, done on shapes instead of words
All example questions come from the Brainblox question bank — practise this question type inside 25+ learning games, timed mock exams and focused practice. Brainblox is an independent app: not affiliated with, endorsed by or licensed by any exam board, school or assessment publisher, and it contains no past papers.