How do you practise French vocabulary in context?

Read short, real sentences and work out the missing or unknown word from what surrounds it. Fill-in-the-blank exercises like this game train exactly that, and seeing the right word in its sentence helps you remember how it is used.

Are fill-in-the-blank exercises good for learning French?

Yes, as long as the blank needs real understanding. Here the wrong options are always the same kind of word as the answer, so grammar alone cannot give it away: you have to understand the sentence.

Does this help with the TCF Canada and TEF Canada reading test?

It trains a core reading skill: understanding words through their context, on everyday exam themes like work, housing, health and immigration. Pair it with full reading practice to get used to the length and timing of the real test.

What do the levels practise?

World 1 uses A2 words, worlds 2 and 3 the B1–B2 nouns of daily life and of work and society, world 4 verbs, adjectives and set expressions, and world 5 mixes everything without the English hint. Each boss level adds words from earlier worlds.

Is Gone fishing free to play?

Yes. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, and levels 7 to 12 are free with an account, which also saves your stars on every device. Levels 13 to 30 come with Premium, together with every 3D game’s later levels and all the mock tests.

French fill in the blank: catch the right word, learn vocabulary in context

La pêche

French fill in the blank, on a quiet lake: read a real French sentence, find the missing word among four fish, and cast. Catch the right one and it leaps into your bucket; miss, and you see straight away which word fits and what it means. 30 levels take you from A2 words at dawn to B2 reading at night, with no English hint at the end. Along the way you will read words like loyer or épargne and know how they are used, not just what they mean.

3 min a round
30 levels
First 6 levels free, no sign-up
Reading
Writing

3D game: plays full screen on phones.

Loading the 3D game…

30 levels, 5 worlds

From the basics to exam speed

Each level is one round of about 3 minutes. Win a star to open the next level, and replay for three stars. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, levels 7–12 with a free account, and Premium opens all 30.

World 1 · levels 1–6
First words
Les premiers mots
A2 words in real sentences, two exam themes per level: family, housing, health, work and more.
· Free, no sign-up
World 2 · levels 7–12
Daily life
La vie de tous les jours
B1–B2 nouns of family, housing, health and money, like bail, épargne or ordonnance.
· Free account
World 3 · levels 13–18
Work and society
Le travail et la société
B1–B2 nouns of work, studies, the environment, immigration and opinion: the words of TCF and TEF texts.
· Premium
World 4 · levels 19–24
Verbs and expressions
Verbes et expressions
Verbs, adjectives and set phrases such as joindre les deux bouts, in the form the sentence needs.
· Premium
World 5 · levels 25–30
Exam reading
Lecture d’examen
Every word and theme, longer rounds and no English hint: read the way the reading test asks you to.
· Premium

How to play

1Read the French sentence: one word is missing.
2Tap the fish carrying the word that fits (or press 1–4).
3Right, and it lands in your bucket. Wrong, it gets away and you see the right word and its meaning.

What it trains

French vocabulary in context exercises: hundreds of natural example sentences across 12 exam themes, such as Le loyer de notre appartement a augmenté de cinq pour cent cette année. The four fish always carry words of the same kind and form (feminine plural adjectives, infinitives, nouns of the same gender), so you choose by meaning, not by grammar clues.

Why it matters for TCF and TEF Canada

Reading in the TCF Canada and TEF Canada means understanding words inside real sentences, and the writing tasks reward the precise word in the right place. Guessing a word from its context is exactly the skill that moves you up a level, whether you aim for NCLC 7 for Express Entry or NCLC 4 for citizenship.

Practise reading in the real format: TCF Canada reading practice · TEF Canada reading practice

Learn while you play

Rules and tips to remember

Read the whole sentence first
The words around the gap often decide. In Les enfants font leurs ___ avant de regarder la télévision., leurs asks for a plural, and children doing something before TV points to devoirs. Read to the full stop before you cast.
Use the little words around the gap
The article and endings narrow it down: l’ before the gap means a word starting with a vowel, une means a feminine noun, and de after an expression like avoir besoin de needs a noun or an infinitive.
Save the hint for real doubt
The English sentence halves your points, so first try to work out the meaning from the French. That effort, guessing from context, is what the reading test asks of you.
Learn the example, not just the word
After each catch, say the full sentence aloud. A word stored with its usual partner (payer le loyer, prendre rendez-vous) comes back faster when you write.

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