What is Make a Word?
Make a word questions give you several words and ask you to take one letter from each word to form a new word. The order of the letters in your new word matches the order of the words given.
For example, take one letter from each of BALL, OAK, TIN to make a three-letter word. You could take B from BALL, O from OAK, and T from TIN to make BOT. These questions need patience and systematic thinking.
Step-by-Step Method
List the available letters
Write out the letters available from each word. You can pick any one letter from each word.
Start with the most restricted word
Find the word with the fewest useful letters and start there. This limits your options and makes the search quicker.
Try combinations
Work through possible combinations. Say them aloud to check if they sound like real words.
Verify the word
Make sure your answer is a real word and that each letter comes from a different word in the correct order.
Worked Examples
Take one letter from each word to make a new word: PLAY, IDEA, GNAT
Working
- From PLAY: P, L, A, Y
- From IDEA: I, D, E, A
- From GNAT: G, N, A, T
- Try combinations: P-I-G = PIG! That works.
- P from PLAY, I from IDEA, G from GNAT
Take one letter from each word to make a new word: COLD, HOUR, PINT
Working
- From COLD: C, O, L, D
- From HOUR: H, O, U, R
- From PINT: P, I, N, T
- Try: C-H-P? No. C-O-P = COP. C-O-T = COT.
- COT: C from COLD, O from HOUR, T from PINT
Common Mistakes
Taking more than one letter from the same word.
You must take exactly one letter from each word, no more.
Rearranging the letters so they are not in the same order as the words.
The first letter comes from the first word, the second from the second word, and so on.
Top Tips
- Start with common first letters (S, T, C, B, P) and common last letters (T, N, D, E, S).
- Think about common short words (3-4 letters) and work backwards.
- If the question has a clue about the target word, use it to narrow your search.
- Work systematically – do not just guess randomly.
Ready to practise?
Put these techniques into action with our free practice papers.
Practise Verbal Reasoning Questions