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Everyone knows what to do the moment they see a sentence with gaps in it — which is exactly why Fill in the Blanks is such a reliable knowledge check. Write a sentence, blank out the words that matter, and the room completes it live from their phones. It is always scored, so it doubles as a fast recall test for anything built on key terms: vocabulary, definitions, process steps, product facts.

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How to create a successful Fill in the Blanks slide

1

Add the slide

Click New slide in the editor and pick Fill in the Blanks from the Quiz group.
2

Write your sentence

Type the full sentence into the Paragraph field, exactly as you want it read once the answers are revealed. Write it complete first — you mark the gaps in the next step. There is a separate Question title field for an optional prompt or heading above the sentence.
3

Blank out the key words

Select a word and click Add blank (the button reads Convert to a blank while a word is selected) to turn it into a gap. You can blank out up to 4 words per slide, so pick the terms that actually test recall rather than filler.
4

Choose how the room answers

Under Blank, pick one answer type for the whole slide: Free Type lets players type their own answer, and Dropdown lets them pick from options you set.
5

Set the answer key

For a Free Type blank, fill in the Correct answer to display — the answer shown on the reveal — and add any Other accepted answers (synonyms or spellings that also count but are never shown). For a Dropdown blank, write the Options and tick the one correct answer. Each blank takes up to 4 accepted answers or 4 options.
6

Tune points and timer

Set the points, countdown, and speed bonus in the slide’s quiz settings, and turn on a leaderboard to rank players (details below).
7

Preview, then present

Click Preview to rehearse, then Present. Participants join at the access code on screen, fill the gaps before the countdown ends, and see the completed sentence with their place on the leaderboard.

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Why use it, and where it works best

Fill in the Blanks needs no explanation for player or presenter — a sentence with gaps is instantly understood — and completing a blank proves real recall, not just recognition. That makes it a natural fit wherever knowledge sits in specific words; here’s a sentence you can borrow for each room:

Classroom and revision

Test vocabulary, definitions, formulas, or language practice with the answer baked into the sentence. “Photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide and water into glucose and ___.” (oxygen)

Training and onboarding

Check that process steps, product facts, or policy details actually landed. “A refund must be approved within ___ business days.”

Events and conferences

Run a familiar quiz round anyone can jump straight into, with a Dropdown so a big audience answers in one tap. “AhaSlides was founded in the year ___.”

Fun and trivia

Song lyrics, famous quotes, movie taglines — leave a gap and let the room finish the line. “May the ___ be with you.” (Force)

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Quiz settings and scoring

Fill in the Blanks is always scored. It reuses the same scoring controls as every AhaSlides quiz slide — found in the slide’s quiz settings — plus two controls of its own:
One shared choice for the whole slide: Free Type (players type their answer) or Dropdown (players pick from your options). A Free Type answer is matched against the correct answer plus any other accepted answers you added; a Dropdown answer is right only if it matches the option you ticked.
On by default when a slide has more than one blank. Each correct blank earns its share of the points, so a player who gets some blanks right still scores. Switch it off to make it all-or-nothing — every blank must be correct to score.
Set the maximum and minimum points a correct answer can earn.
On by default. A correct answer’s score decays from the maximum towards the minimum as the timer runs, so quicker players earn more.
How many seconds players have to fill the gaps before the round closes and the answers are revealed.
Turn on a leaderboard to rank players by their running score after the round.

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Presenting and the reveal

On their phones, participants see the sentence with each gap as a field they complete in place — a Type answer… box for Free Type, or a Select answer… dropdown — then tap Submit before the timer runs out. When you click Reveal answers, the completed sentence and each player’s score appear, and the leaderboard updates. For a Free Type slide, the presenter view has an Accept more answers control: after the reveal you can mark a valid response players typed — a synonym or an alternative spelling you hadn’t listed — as correct, and scores update to match.

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Frequently asked questions

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Do Free Type answers have to be spelled and capitalised exactly?

No. Matching ignores capitalisation, accents, and common punctuation, and trims extra spaces, so “Oxygen”, “oxygen” and “óxygen.” all count. For genuinely different valid words, add each one as an Other accepted answer.

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When should I use Dropdown instead of Free Type?

Reach for Dropdown when a fast, one-tap answer matters more than testing recall — a large audience, younger players, or a term that’s easy to mistype. Free Type is the better test of whether someone actually knows the word.

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What happens if a player doesn’t answer in time?

The round closes when the timer ends, unfilled blanks score nothing, and the player still sees the revealed answers along with everyone else.

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Can I export the answers afterwards?

Yes. Every answer and score is saved with the rest of your quiz results, so you can review or export them after the session.

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Have a question?

Contact our support team — if you’re logged in, use the chat bubble in the bottom-right of your dashboard; otherwise contact us here or email hi@ahaslides.com.