Python Lists Fill in the Blanks – Practice Exercises for Beginners

Sharpen your Python list skills with fill-in-the-blank exercises. Practice indexing, slicing, list methods, and more to reinforce your understanding of core list operations in Python.

Topic: lists

🔍 Fill in the Blanks

🟢 Beginner

1. To create a list with elements 1, 2, and 3, we write: ______ = [1, 2, 3]
Answer

any_valid_variable_name

Lists are created using square brackets, and can be assigned to any valid variable name.

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2. To access the last element of list `my_list`, we use: my_list[______]
Answer

-1

Negative indices count from the end (-1 is last element, -2 is second last, etc.)

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3. To add an element 5 to the end of `my_list`, we use: my_list.______(5)
Answer

append

append() adds a single element to the end of the list

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🟡 Intermediate

1. To get every second element from index 1 to 5 in `nums`, we write: nums[______]
Answer

1:6:2

The slice start:stop:step gets elements from start to stop-1, stepping by step

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2. To reverse a list `items` in-place, we use: items.______()
Answer

reverse

The reverse() method reverses the list elements in their place

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3. To find the index of first occurrence of 'apple' in `fruits`, we use: fruits.______('apple')
Answer

index

index() returns the position of the first matching element

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🔴 Advanced

1. To create a shallow copy of `original_list`, we can use: new_list = ______[:]
Answer

original_list

Slicing with [:] creates a new copy of the entire list

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2. To remove all elements from `my_list` while keeping the object, we use: my_list.______()
Answer

clear

clear() empties the list while maintaining the list object

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🧠 Example-Based Fill in the Blanks

1. colors = ['red', 'green', 'blue']
   print(colors[______])
   

   ✍️ To print 'green' from the list, fill in the blank

   Answer

   1

   List indices start at 0, so 'green' is at position 1

2. numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
   subset = numbers[______]  # Gets [2, 3, 4]
   

   ✍️ Fill in the slice to get elements at indices 1 to 3

   Answer

   1:4

   Slices are start-inclusive and end-exclusive

3. data = [10, 20, 30]
   data.______(40)
   print(data)  # Outputs [10, 20, 30, 40]
   

   ✍️ Fill in the method call to add 40 to the list

   Answer

   append

   append() adds an element to the end of the list

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