Cloze Test: Examples, Rules and 50+ Questions with Answers

The cloze test is one of the most widely used question types in English exams. It appears in school papers, in competitive exams such as SSC and bank recruitment papers, in the Cambridge exams, and, in a special form, in the Duolingo English Test. It looks like a simple fill-in-the-blanks exercise, but it is really a reading test: every answer depends on the sentences around the gap.

What is a cloze test?

A cloze test is a passage from which words have been deleted. Your job is to put a suitable word back in each gap, either from a list of options or from your own head. Because the gaps sit inside a connected text, you need three things at once:

• Vocabulary: knowing the word that carries the meaning.
• Grammar: knowing which form fits (tense, number, preposition, article).
• Comprehension: understanding the passage well enough to know what must come next.

The word comes from closure, the mind’s tendency to complete a pattern that has a piece missing. The American researcher Wilson Taylor introduced the “cloze procedure” in 1953 as a way to measure how readable a text is. Language teachers soon adopted it as a test of English, and it has been in exam papers ever since. It is also called a cloze passage, a cloze procedure, a gap-fill or a cloze deletion test.

A cloze test example

Here is a short cloze passage. Try it before you read the answers.

Notice that each gap needed a different kind of thinking: logic for the first, meaning for the second, grammar for the third. That mix is what makes a cloze test a good measure of overall English.

The six types of cloze test

How to solve a cloze test in six steps

1. Read the whole passage first

   Do not fill anything yet. You are finding the topic, the time (past or present) and the tone (formal, critical, positive). Many gaps cannot be answered until you know these.

2. Predict before you look

   Cover the options and ask what word you would put there. If your own word, or a synonym of it, is among the options, that is almost always the answer.

3. Check the grammar around the gap

   What part of speech is missing? If it is a verb, which tense, and singular or plural? Does the word after the gap need a particular preposition?

4. Read one sentence back and one forward

   Connectors (however, therefore, although) and pronouns (it, they, this) link sentences. The clue for a gap is often in the next sentence.

5. Eliminate, do not guess

   Remove the options that break the grammar, then the ones that break the meaning. Two usually go at once.

6. Re-read with your answers in place

   Read the completed passage from start to finish. A wrong word usually sounds wrong when the passage is whole.

The five clues that give the answer

Almost every gap in a cloze passage can be solved by one of five kinds of clue. Learn to ask which one you are looking at.

Cloze test quiz

Thirty-two quick questions, one gap each. Choose the word that fits best. Questions come in random order, so you can keep going as long as you like.

Cloze test questions with answers

Four passages, from easy to exam level, with the reason for every answer. Do each one on paper before you open the answers.

Passage 1: word-bank cloze (easy)

Word bank: borrow · card · free · quiet · return · shelves

Our town library is my favourite place. It is always (1) ___, so it is easy to study there. You can (2) ___ up to six books at a time with a library (3) ___. Joining is (4) ___ for students. The books are arranged on (5) ___ by subject, and you must (6) ___ them within three weeks.

Show the answers to Passage 1

1. quiet: an adjective is needed after is always, and it explains why studying is easy.
2. borrow: a verb after can; you borrow books from a library.
3. card: library card is a fixed pair.
4. free: an adjective after is; the only one left that fits for students.
5. shelves: books are arranged on shelves.
6. return: a verb after must; you return what you borrowed.

Passage 2: multiple-choice cloze (school and SSC level)

Rainwater harvesting is one of the simplest ways to (1) ___ water. Rain that falls on a roof is collected through pipes and (2) ___ in a tank instead of being allowed to run away. The stored water can be used for gardens and cleaning, which (3) ___ the demand on the public supply. In dry regions it can also be directed into the ground to (4) ___ the level of groundwater. (5) ___ the system is cheap to build, many cities now require it in new buildings.

1. (a) waste   (b) conserve   (c) spend   (d) pour
2. (a) stored   (b) thrown   (c) boiled   (d) sold
3. (a) raises   (b) doubles   (c) reduces   (d) creates
4. (a) lower   (b) raise   (c) hide   (d) measure
5. (a) Although   (b) Unless   (c) Because   (d) Until

Show the answers to Passage 2

1. (b) conserve: the passage is about saving water; waste and spend mean the opposite.
2. (a) stored: water is stored in a tank, and the next sentence says “the stored water”.
3. (c) reduces: using your own water lowers the demand on the public supply.
4. (b) raise: sending water into the ground increases the groundwater level.
5. (c) Because: cheapness is the reason cities require it. Although would signal a contrast that is not there.

Passage 3: multiple-choice cloze (bank exam level)

Working from home has changed the way many companies (1) ___. Employees save the time they once spent travelling, and employers spend less (2) ___ office space. However, the arrangement is not without its (3) ___. Some workers find it hard to separate their job from their private life, and new staff may (4) ___ the informal learning that happens in an office. For this reason, a growing number of firms have (5) ___ a mixed model, with two or three days a week in the office.

1. (a) operate   (b) operates   (c) operating   (d) operated
2. (a) for   (b) on   (c) at   (d) with
3. (a) benefits   (b) rewards   (c) drawbacks   (d) profits
4. (a) catch up   (b) miss out on   (c) look after   (d) give up
5. (a) refused   (b) abandoned   (c) adopted   (d) delayed

Show the answers to Passage 3

1. (a) operate: the subject is the plural companies, and the passage describes the present.
2. (b) on: the collocation is spend money on something.
3. (c) drawbacks: However turns from advantages to problems, and the next sentence lists two.
4. (b) miss out on: new staff lose a benefit; the other phrasal verbs do not fit the meaning.
5. (c) adopted: For this reason introduces a solution that firms have taken up.

Passage 4: open cloze (one word in each gap)

In an open cloze the missing words are nearly always small grammar words: prepositions, articles, auxiliaries, pronouns and connectors. If you are stuck, run through those groups before you think of anything longer.

I started learning to cook two years (1) ___, when I moved (2) ___ a flat of my own. At first I could make nothing (3) ___ toast, and I burned even that. A neighbour (4) ___ had worked as a chef offered to teach me, and every Sunday we cooked a meal together. I soon realised that cooking is not (5) ___ difficult as it looks. The most important thing is to read the recipe (6) ___ you begin. I still make mistakes, (7) ___ I am no longer afraid of the kitchen. Last week I even cooked dinner (8) ___ eight people.

Show the answers to Passage 4

1. ago: two years ago with the past simple.
2. into (or to): move into a flat.
3. but (or except): nothing but means “only”.
4. who (or that): a relative pronoun for a person.
5. as (or so): not as difficult as.
6. before: the sensible order is to read first, then begin.
7. but (or yet): a contrast between making mistakes and not being afraid.
8. for: you cook dinner for people.

Try a C-test

A C-test is a cloze test in which the second half of a word is removed and the first half stays. The half you can see narrows the choice, so you get many more gaps in the same space: “Rivers pro____ fresh wa___ for mil_____ of peo___” can only be provide, water, millions, people. Type the missing letters below, then check.

This is the format the Duolingo English Test uses for its Read & Complete task. Our Read & Complete guide explains how that task is timed and scored.

Where cloze tests appear

Exam papers change from year to year, so check the current pattern of your own exam for the exact number of gaps and marks.

Cloze test, fill in the blanks and C-test

These three look alike, and the names are often used loosely. The real difference is what you are given.

So every cloze test is a fill-in-the-blanks exercise, but not every fill-in-the-blanks exercise is a cloze test: a cloze test needs a passage.

How a cloze test is scored

There are two ways to mark a cloze test in which you write the words yourself:

• Exact-word scoring: only the word that was removed from the original counts. It is quick to mark and is used in readability research.
• Acceptable-word scoring: any word that fits the grammar and the meaning counts. This is fairer for language learners and is how an open cloze is normally marked.

Multiple-choice cloze tests have one correct option for each gap. In competitive exams, check whether your paper has negative marking before you decide to guess. When a fixed-ratio cloze is used to judge a text, a common rule of thumb is that readers who restore around 60% of the exact words understand the text comfortably.

Common mistakes

Cloze on the Duolingo English Test

The Duolingo English Test does not use a classic multiple-choice cloze passage, but three of its reading tasks are built on the same skill of restoring missing language from context:

The six steps above apply to all three. The one change is speed: the test is timed, so the habit of predicting the word from grammar and context has to become automatic. The best way to build that is to meet the tasks under the real clock in a full mock test.

How to practise

1. Make your own cloze passages. Take a short news article, leave the first sentence whole, and cover every seventh word with a strip of paper. Restore the words, then check.
2. Learn words in pairs. Most gaps are decided by collocation, so note pay attention, heavy traffic and depend on, not single words. Our phrasal verbs list is a good place to start.
3. Revise the small words. Prepositions, articles, connectors and tenses decide most open-cloze gaps.
4. Read every day. Ten minutes of an editorial or a feature article builds the sense of what word comes next, which is exactly what a cloze test measures.
5. Review your errors by clue. After each passage, mark every wrong gap as grammar, collocation, connector, meaning or tone. The clue you miss most is the one to practise.

Walk into the DET already knowing the room.

Questions people ask

What is a cloze test?

A cloze test is a reading exercise in which words are removed from a passage and you put them back, using the context. Depending on the type, you choose each word from a list of options or write it yourself. It tests vocabulary, grammar and reading comprehension together, which is why so many English exams include one.

What is a cloze test with an example?

Here is a short one: “The sun rises in the ___ and sets in the ___.” The missing words are east and west. A real cloze test uses a full paragraph with five to ten gaps, and the clue for a gap is often in a different sentence, so you have to read the whole passage.

Why is it called a cloze test?

The name comes from closure, a term in psychology for the mind’s habit of completing a pattern that has a piece missing. Wilson Taylor used it in 1953 for his “cloze procedure”, a way of measuring how easy a text is to read by deleting words and asking readers to restore them.

What is another name for a cloze test?

It is also called a cloze passage, a cloze procedure, a cloze deletion test or a gap-fill. In school books it often appears simply as “fill in the blanks in the passage”. A cloze in which the second half of words is removed is called a C-test.

What are the different types of cloze tests?

There are six common types: multiple-choice cloze (options for each gap), open cloze (you write the word), word-bank cloze (choose from a box), fixed-ratio cloze (every fifth to seventh word removed), selective cloze (only one kind of word removed) and the C-test (the second half of every second word removed).

What is the difference between a cloze test and fill in the blanks?

A fill-in-the-blanks exercise can be a list of separate sentences, each testing one point. A cloze test is always a connected passage, so the answers depend on each other and on the meaning of the whole text. Every cloze test is a fill-in-the-blanks exercise, but only a passage-based one is a cloze test.

What is a C-test in English?

A C-test is a type of cloze test developed in the early 1980s. The first sentence is left whole; after that, the second half of every second word is deleted and you type the missing letters: “The wea____ was co__” for weather and cold. The Duolingo English Test uses the format in its Read & Complete task.

What is an open cloze?

An open cloze gives you no options: you write one word in each gap. The missing words are usually grammar words such as prepositions, articles, auxiliary verbs, pronouns and connectors. It is Part 2 of the Reading and Use of English paper in Cambridge B2 First and C1 Advanced.

What does cloze reading mean?

Cloze reading is a classroom activity in which a teacher removes words from a text and pupils read it while supplying the missing words, aloud or on paper. It is used to build prediction and comprehension, and to check whether a text is at the right level for a class.

How do you solve a cloze test quickly?

Read the whole passage once without filling anything, so you know the topic and the tense. Then take each gap in turn: predict the word, check the grammar around it, and pick the option that matches. Skip a gap that resists and return to it, because later sentences often give the clue.

How can I improve my cloze test score for SSC and bank exams?

Do one timed passage a day and review each wrong gap by type: grammar, collocation, connector, meaning or tone. Learn collocations and phrasal verbs, since they decide most options, and read an editorial daily. In the exam, use elimination and check the paper’s negative-marking rule before guessing.

What does a cloze test measure?

It measures overall language ability: how well you combine word knowledge, grammar and understanding of a text. Research has found that cloze scores go up and down with scores on longer reading and language tests, which is why a cloze passage is used as a quick check of general English level.

How is an open cloze marked if more than one word fits?

With acceptable-word scoring, any word that fits both the grammar and the meaning is correct, so who or that can both score in “a neighbour ___ had worked as a chef”. Exact-word scoring, where only the original word counts, is used mainly in readability research, not in language exams.

Which is harder, an open cloze or a multiple-choice cloze?

Most learners find the open cloze harder, because nothing reminds you of the word. A multiple-choice cloze is harder in a different way: the wrong options are chosen to be close in meaning, so it tests fine differences between words such as raise and rise.

Which English tests use cloze tests?

Cambridge B2 First and C1 Advanced include a multiple-choice cloze and an open cloze. The Duolingo English Test uses the C-test format. Indian competitive exams such as SSC and bank papers include a multiple-choice cloze passage. IELTS uses related gap-fill tasks, such as sentence and summary completion.

How do I make my own cloze test?

Choose a passage of 150 to 250 words at your level. Leave the first and last sentences whole. Delete every seventh word, or delete only one kind of word, such as prepositions. Number the gaps, wait a day, then fill them in and compare with the original.

How long should I spend on a cloze passage in an exam?

As a guide, allow about half a minute for a first read and about 30 seconds for each gap, so a five-gap passage takes roughly three minutes. If one gap is taking longer, mark your best option, move on, and return if time is left.

Quick reference: Cloze Test at a glance

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