What does a child have to do to select opposite meaning in the 11+?

Choose the option most opposite in meaning to a target word. It is one of 26 named verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the vocabulary strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.

What is the trap in an 11+ select opposite meaning question?

A word that goes with the headword is not its opposite: "rich" sits beside "wealthy" rather than reversing it. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.

What is not part of select opposite meaning in the 11+?

The skill map draws the line here: Excludes merely unrelated options. A question past that line is testing a different named verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.

Which other 11+ skills should we practise alongside select opposite meaning?

The vocabulary strand holds 2 skills that are tested together, and the page next to select opposite meaning is select closest meaning. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.

How can my child practise select opposite meaning for free?

Use Word Bridge, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to select opposite meaning, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Verbal Reasoning · Vocabulary

Select opposite meaning

Choose the option most opposite in meaning to a target word.

Watch the worked example

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Find the True Opposite

This video shows how to choose the option with the most opposite meaning to a given word. Watch an 11+ verbal reasoning question solved step by step.

0:00 / 2:38

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Read the transcript

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Quick quiz: Select opposite meaning

10 questions, with feedback after each one. No sign-up needed.

Read the questions in this quiz

Question 1
Which word means the opposite of "multiply"?
- A.sink
- B.forget
- C.divide
- D.increase
Question 2
Which word means the opposite of "abundant"?
- A.plentiful
- B.cheap
- C.scarce
- D.crowded
Question 3
Which word means the opposite of "shrink"?
- A.sink
- B.melt
- C.contract
- D.grow
Question 4
Which word means the opposite of "innocent"?
- A.dim
- B.blameless
- C.guilty
- D.crooked
Question 5
Which word means the opposite of "hinder"?
- A.assist
- B.forget
- C.obstruct
- D.melt
Question 6
Which word means the opposite of "reveal"?
- A.sink
- B.hide
- C.expose
- D.forget
Question 7
Which word means the opposite of "ancient"?
- A.recent
- B.short
- C.shallow
- D.antique
Question 8
Which word means the opposite of "generous"?
- A.short
- B.mean
- C.charitable
- D.crooked
Question 9
Which word means the opposite of "major"?
- A.crooked
- B.minor
- C.short
- D.main
Question 10
Which word means the opposite of "hostile"?
- A.late
- B.welcoming
- C.dim
- D.unfriendly

Practise it now

Full is to empty as happy is to…?

This exercise practises select opposite meaning alongside its own main skill, Word Analogies.

It covers most of this skill rather than all of it.

Loading the interactive exercise. Nothing you do here is saved or scored.

A worked example

One question of the kind this skill is tested with, worked all the way through: the reasoning, and what the wrong answers are there to catch.

Reversing the idea, not the word

Which word means the opposite of "win"?

Work one headword through and see why the word that goes WITH it is the trap.

lose
triumph
knit
sketch

Answer: lose

How you get there

"lose" reverses "win": the two cannot both be true of the same thing at the same time, which is the test for an opposite. "triumph" is the trap on this board, because it means the SAME as "win" rather than the reverse of it, and a word that goes WITH the headword is the commonest wrong answer here. Name the idea the headword sits on first, then reverse that idea rather than reaching for whichever option feels most unlike the word.

Why the other answers tempt

A word that goes with the headword is not its opposite: "rich" sits beside "wealthy" rather than reversing it.

If they are stuck, say this

Say what idea the headword is about, such as size or speed or money, then look for the option that turns that same idea the other way round.

Now do it live in Word Bridge

Kitchen-table script for parents

Try this together

A friendly mini script for the breakfast table, school run or a quiet two minutes. Read it aloud as written, or make it your own.

Ready? Let's have a go at Select opposite meaning together. Work one headword through and see why the word that goes WITH it is the trap. Here comes the question: Which word means the opposite of "win"? Before we race ahead, let us choose one good first step. Here is a helpful clue: Say what idea the headword is about, such as size or speed or money, then look for the option that turns that same idea the other way round. Nice work. Now let us follow the thinking: "triumph" is the trap on this board, because it means the SAME as "win" rather than the reverse of it, and a word that goes WITH the headword is the commonest wrong answer here. So our answer is: lose. There is one sneaky trap to watch for: A word that goes with the headword is not its opposite: "rich" sits beside "wealthy" rather than reversing it. Can you show me that first move again in your own words? Brilliant. No rush; we are practising a method you can reuse, not trying to win a speed contest.

What this exercise is doing

Word Bridge

Full is to empty as happy is to…?

This engine’s own main skill is Word Analogies. It practises select opposite meaning alongside it, and covers most of it rather than all.

Full is the opposite of empty, so happy is the opposite of sad. In an analogy the two pairs must be joined by exactly the same relationship: find the link in the first pair, then carry that link across.

What to say if they get stuck

Say the first pair out loud: "Full is the opposite of empty."
The same bridge has to carry "happy". These are opposites.

Open Word Bridge on its own page to share it

How select opposite meaning differs from the skills beside it

The same exercise practises several skills, and telling them apart is often the difficulty rather than the exercise itself. On this page the skill is: choose the option most opposite in meaning to a target word, and it stops where excludes merely unrelated options.

Select an antonym
Select a word with the opposite meaning in the stated context. Excludes merely different words.
Identify an analogy relation
Identify the semantic relationship in one word pair. Excludes completing the second pair.
Transfer an analogy relation
Apply a stated or inferred word relationship to complete a second pair. One relation must remain invariant.

Related verbal reasoning skills

Select closest meaningChoose the option closest in meaning to a target word.

All verbal reasoning 11+ skills

Questions parents ask about select opposite meaning

What this skill involves, common mistakes and ways to practise it at home.

: Choose the option most opposite in meaning to a target word. It is one of 26 named verbal reasoning skills in the 11+, in the vocabulary strand, and this page carries 1 interactive exercise that practises it.
: A word that goes with the headword is not its opposite: "rich" sits beside "wealthy" rather than reversing it. The wrong answers on this skill are built out of that, not out of random numbers, so it is worth naming out loud before your child meets it under time pressure.
: Point at the next move rather than explaining the whole rule. Say what idea the headword is about, such as size or speed or money, then look for the option that turns that same idea the other way round.
: The skill map draws the line here: Excludes merely unrelated options. A question past that line is testing a different named verbal reasoning skill, which is worth knowing before you spend a week practising the wrong one.
: The vocabulary strand holds 2 skills that are tested together, and the page next to select opposite meaning is select closest meaning. Each has its own exercise and its own link, and none of them needs an account.
: Use Word Bridge, embedded on this page. It is the exercise the skill map attaches to select opposite meaning, it runs in the browser with no account to make, these exercises are not scored and do not save learner records. The separate quiz sends answers for marking and shows a score, without saving an assessment record. It also has its own link, so you can send it to a child without sending them anywhere else first.

Verbal reasoning is a set of question types, not a subject to revise

A free diagnostic works out which of the codes, analogies, word puzzles and logic types are already secure, and which are not.