Verbal Reasoning Closest Meaning
The SWAPS method in under five minutes — one real question, solved step by step.
A Closest Meaning question gives you two groups of three words. You take one word from each group and find the two that are closest in meaning.
Closest means swappable. One word could stand in for the other in a sentence, and the meaning would not change. It does not mean the two words remind you of each other.
The video above and the worked example below take apart the same question.
The method
Five steps: spot the word closest, word one: what does it mean?, against all three, in order, put both in one sentence and same meaning? Prove it — their first letters spell SWAPS, because closest means swappable.
- Step 1 of 5
Spot the word closest
Closest Meaning and Opposite Meaning questions look exactly the same, so check which one this is. - Step 2 of 5
Word one: what does it mean?
Take the first word of group 1 and say to yourself what it means. Now you are hunting for a meaning, not just a word. - Step 3 of 5
Against all three, in order
Check your word against each word in group 2, in turn. Every time, ask "do these two mean the same?" Never ask "do these two go together?" If none of the three fits, the second word of group 1 goes next, then the third. - Step 4 of 5
Put both in one sentence
Swap them in, one at a time. - Step 5 of 5
Same meaning? Prove it
Both sentences must mean exactly the same thing. If the meaning shifts even slightly, it is the wrong pair.
About 30 seconds each.
You may also meet a one-word form: closest in meaning to WEARY, then four options. The same steps work: that one word is word one, and you check it against each option in turn.
Four things to watch out for
We looked at all seven Closest Meaning questions in GL's own practice papers.
- Teammates, not twins. The most common trap by far: six of the seven have one. Office and desk come from the same story, so they feel as if they belong together. But you cannot swap one for the other. Job and task can swap, so they are the pair.
- Near enough is not the answer. Three of the seven. Search looks right for find, but searching is only the looking. Discover is the finding. When two words are both roughly right, the sentence test picks the exact one.
- A pair inside one group never counts. Three of the seven. Clever and silly sit together in group 1. It looks like a find, but you must take one word from each group. Clever and smart are the pair.
- The opposite across the groups. One of the seven at most, but when it is there it is the loudest word on the page. Open and close feel strongly connected, so a rushing reader grabs them. Shut and close are the twins.
Stuck? Cross out what you can, choose from what is left, and never leave it blank. If you do not know a word, ask whether it is a thing, a doing word or a describing word: its twin is the same kind. A part you know helps too (con-ceal, re-store), and so does a place you have heard it ("a vacant seat").
Try these yourself
Now have a go yourself — tap the two words that mean the same.
Related
- The complete 11+ question-type guide
- VR: Opposite Meaning — the same sweep, hunting opposites instead of twins
- VR: Odd One Out — another two-group hunt, this time for the pair that does not belong
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.