ASVAB Practice Test: Free Questions by Subtest
MindLumos Team
2026-08-05
The ASVAB has ten subtests, but only four set your AFQT score — the number that decides whether you can enlist: Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension. Practise those four first. Below are 36 free practice questions with worked answers.
Which ASVAB subtests actually count?
All ten subtests feed the line scores that determine which military jobs you qualify for. Only four feed the AFQT, and the AFQT is what determines whether you qualify at all.
| Subtest | What it tests | Counts toward AFQT? |
|---|---|---|
| Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) | Word problems using basic arithmetic | Yes |
| Mathematics Knowledge (MK) | Algebra and geometry | Yes |
| Word Knowledge (WK) | Vocabulary and synonyms | Yes |
| Paragraph Comprehension (PC) | Reading short passages | Yes |
| General Science (GS) | Life, earth and physical science | No |
| Electronics Information (EI) | Circuits and electrical principles | No |
| Auto & Shop Information (AS) | Vehicles and workshop practice | No |
| Mechanical Comprehension (MC) | Mechanical principles and physics | No |
| Assembling Objects (AO) | Spatial reasoning | No |
Subtest names, question counts and timings differ between the computer-adaptive (CAT-ASVAB) and paper versions, and are revised periodically. Confirm the current format on the official ASVAB website before you build a timed plan.
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) practice questions
Word problems. The maths is simple; the difficulty is translating the sentence into an operation. Counts toward your AFQT.
1.A truck travels 240 miles on 8 gallons of fuel. What is its fuel economy?
Answer: 30 miles per gallon
240 ÷ 8 = 30.
2.A recruit earns $2,400 a month. If 15% is withheld, what is the take-home pay?
Answer: $2,040
100% − 15% = 85%. 2,400 × 0.85 = 2,040.
3.Three people share $1,260 equally. How much does each receive?
Answer: $420
1,260 ÷ 3 = 420.
4.A 50-gallon tank is 40% full. How many gallons are needed to fill it?
Answer: 30 gallons
40% of 50 = 20 gallons in the tank. 50 − 20 = 30.
5.A convoy departs at 8:15 a.m. and arrives 3 hours 50 minutes later. What time does it arrive?
Answer: 12:05 p.m.
8:15 + 3 h = 11:15. 11:15 + 50 min = 12:05.
6.Five workers build a wall in 12 days. How long would six workers take at the same rate?
Answer: 10 days
5 × 12 = 60 worker-days. 60 ÷ 6 = 10.
7.A jacket costs $80 after a 20% discount. What was the original price?
Answer: $100
80 is 80% of the original. 80 ÷ 0.8 = 100.
8.You buy three items at $12.50 each and pay with $50. How much change?
Answer: $12.50
3 × 12.50 = 37.50. 50 − 37.50 = 12.50.
9.A recipe for 4 people needs 6 cups of flour. How much for 10 people?
Answer: 15 cups
6 ÷ 4 = 1.5 cups per person. 1.5 × 10 = 15.
10.A rectangle has a perimeter of 36 ft. Its length is twice its width. Find the width.
Answer: 6 feet
P = 2(l + w) and l = 2w, so 2(2w + w) = 36 → 6w = 36 → w = 6.
Ten questions is a warm-up, not preparation. If you already own a prep book as a PDF — or can photograph its pages — MindLumos turns that into a timed quiz in about two minutes, so you can drill the same subtest as many times as you need.
Mathematics Knowledge (MK) practice questions
Straight algebra and geometry, no story attached. Fastest subtest to improve because the rules are finite. Counts toward your AFQT.
1.Solve for x: 3x + 7 = 22
Answer: x = 5
3x = 22 − 7 = 15. x = 15 ÷ 3 = 5.
2.What is 7² − 4²?
Answer: 33
49 − 16 = 33.
3.Find the area of a triangle with base 10 and height 6.
Answer: 30 square units
A = ½ × base × height = ½ × 10 × 6 = 30.
4.Simplify: (x³)(x⁴)
Answer: x⁷
Multiplying powers of the same base adds the exponents: 3 + 4 = 7.
5.If y = 2x + 3 and x = 4, what is y?
Answer: 11
y = 2(4) + 3 = 8 + 3 = 11.
6.What is √144?
Answer: 12
12 × 12 = 144.
7.Factor: x² − 9
Answer: (x + 3)(x − 3)
Difference of two squares: a² − b² = (a + b)(a − b).
8.Find the circumference of a circle with radius 5. Use π ≈ 3.14.
Answer: 31.4 units
C = 2πr = 2 × 3.14 × 5 = 31.4.
9.What is 3/4 + 2/3?
Answer: 17/12, or 1 5/12
Common denominator 12: 9/12 + 8/12 = 17/12.
10.Find the volume of a cube with edge length 4.
Answer: 64 cubic units
V = s³ = 4 × 4 × 4 = 64.
Word Knowledge (WK) practice questions
Synonyms, sometimes in a sentence. Pure vocabulary recall, which makes it the subtest flashcards help most. Counts toward your AFQT.
1."Abate" most nearly means:
Answer: lessen
To abate is to reduce in intensity — a storm abates.
2."Candid" most nearly means:
Answer: frank
A candid answer is direct and honest.
3."Deter" most nearly means:
Answer: discourage
To deter is to prevent by making someone reluctant.
4."Frugal" most nearly means:
Answer: thrifty
A frugal person spends carefully.
5."Lucid" most nearly means:
Answer: clear
A lucid explanation is easy to follow.
6."Novice" most nearly means:
Answer: beginner
A novice has just started.
7."Prudent" most nearly means:
Answer: cautious
A prudent decision shows careful judgement.
8."Rigid" most nearly means:
Answer: inflexible
Rigid describes something that will not bend, literally or figuratively.
9."Tedious" most nearly means:
Answer: tiresome
A tedious task is long and dull.
10."Vigilant" most nearly means:
Answer: watchful
A vigilant sentry stays alert for danger.
Paragraph Comprehension (PC) practice questions
Short passages with questions about what the text actually says. The commonest error is answering from general knowledge instead of from the passage. Counts toward your AFQT.
1.Passage: "Rust forms when iron reacts with oxygen in the presence of water. Painting a surface blocks that contact, which is why bridges are repainted on a schedule rather than only when damage appears." — Why are bridges repainted on a schedule?
Answer: To keep blocking the contact between iron, oxygen and water before damage occurs
The passage links paint to blocking contact, and contrasts scheduled painting with waiting for visible damage.
2.Passage: "The quartermaster refused the requisition. The form had been signed, but the wrong cost centre was listed, and correcting it required the originating unit to resubmit." — Why was the requisition refused?
Answer: The wrong cost centre was listed
The passage says the form was signed, so the signature was not the problem; the stated fault is the cost centre.
3.Passage: "Most people believe they need eight hours of sleep. In practice, adult sleep need varies between roughly seven and nine hours, and consistency of schedule matters more than exact duration." — What does the passage suggest matters most?
Answer: Keeping a consistent sleep schedule
The final clause states consistency matters more than exact duration.
4.Passage: "Saltwater freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water. This is why salt is spread on roads in winter: it does not melt ice directly, but lowers the temperature at which water can freeze." — What does road salt actually do?
Answer: It lowers the freezing point of water
The passage explicitly denies that salt melts ice directly.
5.Passage: "The report was thorough but arrived two days after the decision had been made. Its recommendations were sound and were filed without action." — What can be concluded about the report?
Answer: It was well prepared but too late to be useful
"Thorough" and "sound" describe quality; "after the decision" and "without action" describe the outcome.
6.Passage: "Aircraft maintenance logs are kept in duplicate. One copy travels with the airframe; the other remains with the unit, so that a lost aircraft does not take its service history with it." — Why is a second copy kept by the unit?
Answer: So the service history survives if the aircraft is lost
The final clause gives the reason directly.
How can I practice for the ASVAB?
Attempting endless fresh questions feels productive and is not. What moves an AFQT score is reviewing the questions you got wrong until that error type stops recurring.
Week 1 — diagnose
One timed set per AFQT subtest. Record which subtest costs you the most marks. Almost everyone guesses wrong about this.
Week 2 — drill the weakest
Short daily sets on that one subtest. Twenty minutes a day beats a three-hour session on Sunday.
Week 3 — add the clock
Arithmetic Reasoning is where most candidates lose marks to pace rather than to mathematics. Practise to time.
Week 4 — full battery
Sit complete sets in order, so the length of the real thing is not itself a surprise.
Turn your prep book into unlimited practice
Most candidates already own the material — an official booklet, a Mometrix or Kaplan guide, a stack of notes. The bottleneck is converting it into something you can be tested on.
| Resource | What it gives you | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Official ASVAB site | The current test format, sample items and score explanation, free. | Confirming format before you plan |
| Mometrix / Kaplan guides | Full-length practice batteries with explanations. | Volume of realistic practice |
| ASVAB practice apps | Short question sets on a phone. | Filling dead time |
| MindLumos | Turns your own prep PDF, photographed pages or notes into timed quizzes and flashcards. It does not supply official ASVAB questions. | Drilling the book you already bought |
MindLumos reads PDFs, images including legible handwriting, audio files and article links. It does not support YouTube links or video uploads. A quiz costs one to two credits and a free account includes four credits in total.
What counts as a good ASVAB score?
The AFQT is a percentile, not a percentage. A 50 means you scored better than half of the reference group — it does not mean you answered half the questions correctly. This single misunderstanding causes most of the panic about practice scores.
- Minimum qualifying AFQT scores differ by branch, by education level, and change over time.
- Specific military jobs are gated by line scores, which combine different subtests — not by the AFQT alone.
- A practice score is not a predicted score. Untimed practice in particular inflates results.
We deliberately do not publish branch minimums here. They change, they vary by programme, and an out-of-date number could cost someone an application. Confirm current requirements with a recruiter or the official ASVAB site.
Frequently asked questions
How can I practice for the ASVAB?
Practise the four AFQT subtests first — Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension — because they alone determine enlistment eligibility. Work timed sets, then review every wrong answer and turn it into a drill.
Which ASVAB subtests count toward the AFQT?
Four: Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension. Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension combine into a Verbal Expression score, which is then weighted in the AFQT calculation.
Is the ASVAB hard?
The content is roughly high-school level, so the difficulty is pacing and breadth rather than depth. Most people who struggle do so on Arithmetic Reasoning timing, not on the mathematics itself.
How is the AFQT score calculated?
Verbal Expression is derived from Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension, then the AFQT combines Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge and twice Verbal Expression. The result is reported as a percentile from 1 to 99.
What is a good ASVAB score?
The AFQT is a percentile, so 50 means you scored better than half of the reference group. Minimum qualifying scores differ by branch and change over time, and specific jobs use line scores rather than the AFQT — confirm current requirements with a recruiter.
Can I make my own ASVAB practice questions?
Yes. If you have a prep book as a PDF or photographs of its pages, MindLumos can turn that material into a timed quiz and flashcards. It reads PDFs, images including legible handwriting, audio files and article links, but not YouTube links or video uploads.
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