Word Groups: Free SAT Vocabulary Game
Word Groups is a free SAT vocabulary game: sixteen SAT words, four hidden groups of four that belong together. Find all four with fewer than four mistakes, then tap any solved group for definitions and word roots.
How to play Word Groups
Every board is built fresh from a bank of 352 words drawn from the vocabulary the digital SAT actually uses, so there is always another board to play. No sign-up, no app, and it works on your phone.
- Tap four words that you think share a meaning, then press Submit. If three of the four belong together, the game tells you that you are one away.
- Solve all four groups with fewer than four mistakes. Each solved group gets a color and a name, so you always know which is which.
- Learn from the board. Tap a solved group for definitions and roots. The words you group are added to your word map, and Fit Check is where you prove you can use them in sentences.
What this SAT vocab game trains
To decide that a word belongs with three others, you have to know what it means precisely enough to tell it from its near neighbors. That is the whole skill behind the SAT’s vocabulary questions. The wrong answers on the test are rarely nonsense; they are real words close in meaning to the right one, and the question is whether you can see the difference. Some boards here group words by meaning, some by the root they share, and some split a single meaning by tone, with one group of approving words and one group of disapproving ones. That last kind is exactly the trap the SAT likes to set.
How the digital SAT tests vocabulary
Vocabulary on the digital SAT lives in the Reading and Writing section. Words in Context questions appear in both modules as part of the Craft and Structure domain, which makes up about 28 percent of the section. Each one gives you a short passage with a blank, or asks what a word “most nearly means” in the passage, and offers four answer choices that are all real words. The test does not ask whether you have seen a word before. It asks whether you know it well enough to pick it over the three words sitting next to it. For the full question format, the Hard Words in Context drills use SAT-style passages with four choices and complete explanations.
Three tips for solving a board
- Start with the group you are surest of. Locking in one group removes four words from the board and makes the rest easier to see. Guessing early at the hardest group is how the mistakes pile up.
- Watch the tone. When a board has two groups that seem to mean the same thing, ask whether one set of words is a compliment and the other an insult. “Resolute” and “obstinate” both describe someone who will not budge, but only one of them is praise.
- Read the roots after every solve. A root you recognize turns an unfamiliar word on test day into an educated guess instead of a coin flip. The SAT vocabulary flashcards go deeper on the root families that matter most.
The 352 SAT words in the game
The bank holds 352 words in 88 groups, chosen from the vocabulary that shows up in College Board’s released digital SAT and PSAT practice tests and question bank. Every definition, root note, and grouping was reviewed for accuracy before it went in, and no SAT question text is reproduced in the game. A sample of the SAT vocabulary words you will meet on the boards:
- abstruse
- acquiesce
- ambivalent
- assiduous
- bolster
- candid
- capricious
- circumspect
- cogent
- concede
- conjecture
- corroborate
- cursory
- deride
- discern
- disparage
- dubious
- elucidate
- emulate
- equivocate
- erode
- exhaustive
- facile
- flout
- forthright
- garrulous
- hackneyed
- impede
- implicit
- incredulous
- innocuous
- intransigent
- judicious
- lucid
- mercurial
- obstinate
- perfunctory
- plausible
- preclude
- prudent
- refute
- resolute
- scrutinize
- specious
- tacit
- tenable
- tenuous
- vacillate
The full list builds up on the Word map screen as you play, with each word’s definition and root. The same 352 words power Fit Check, the sentence game, so both games read and write one word map. If you spot an error, the Report a problem link on the results screen sends it straight to us.
Keep practicing SAT vocabulary
- Fit Check: use the words you just grouped in real sentences
- Hard Words in Context drills: the real four-choice SAT format, with explanations
- SAT vocabulary flashcards with word roots
- All SAT Reading and Writing practice and all free SAT and ACT games
Frequently Asked Questions: Word Groups
Is Word Groups free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no app to install, and no paywall. The SAT vocabulary game runs in your browser on a phone, tablet, or computer.
Does the game save my progress?
Your word map and your recent boards are saved in the browser you play in, so coming back on the same phone or computer picks up where you left off. Nothing is stored on our servers, and clearing your browser data resets the map.
Will I see the same board twice?
Boards are built fresh from the bank of 352 words each time you play, and the game avoids repeating a board you have seen recently. There is always another one.
Where do the SAT words come from?
The bank was built from the vocabulary that appears in College Board’s released digital SAT and PSAT practice material, with definitions and roots reviewed for accuracy. No SAT question text is reproduced anywhere in the game.
Is this good practice for the digital SAT?
It is practice for the vocabulary half of Words in Context questions: knowing what a word means well enough to tell it from its near neighbors. For the question format itself, with a passage and four choices, use the Hard Words in Context drills after you play.
What is the difference between Word Groups and Fit Check?
Word Groups is about meaning: you sort words into groups that belong together. Fit Check puts the same words into sentences and asks whether each one belongs there. The two games share one word map, so words you group here show up as “grouped” there, and Fit Check is where they move on to “checked,” “learned,” and “mastered.”
SAT® and PSAT® are trademarks registered by College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse, FreeTestPrep.com.