Guide
Making and scoring cloze reading tests
A readability formula estimates how hard a text is in general. A cloze test checks whether it suits a particular reader. The method, introduced by Wilson Taylor in 1953, is simple: delete every fifth word from a passage and ask the reader to restore them. Readers who understand the text can predict most missing words; readers who are lost cannot. This tool builds the test, lets the reader fill it in on screen or on paper, and turns the score into a reading level.
Building the test
Paste a passage, ideally about 250 words from the material you are considering. The first sentence is left complete so the reader can get into the text. From then on, every fifth word is replaced by a gap; you can choose any interval from every third to every twelfth word. Shorter intervals make the test harder, longer ones easier and quicker.
Taking it on screen
In “Take the test here”, the passage appears with an input box in each gap, sized to the missing word. The reader fills in the boxes and presses Check. Each gap turns green or red, hovering a red gap shows the original word, and the score appears with its level. Capitals and punctuation are ignored when comparing.
Printing a worksheet
“Worksheet and answer key” gives the passage with numbered blanks and a separate list of answers. Copy them into a document or download them as text files, then print for a class.
Scoring and levels
Standard scoring accepts only the exact deleted word. That sounds strict, but the interpretation scales were built that way, and exact scoring is quick and objective. The tool uses the widely cited Rankin and Culhane levels: above 60 % means the independent level, where the reader can handle the text alone; 41–60 % the instructional level, suitable with teacher support; 40 % and below the frustration level, where the text is too hard for now.
Synonyms
Teachers sometimes give credit for acceptable synonyms, especially with language learners. If you do, note it, because the published levels assume exact-word scoring. Hover each red gap to decide case by case.
A worked example
The sample passage about bees has about 75 words after its first sentence, so deleting every fifth word gives 15 gaps. A confident reader typically restores small words such as “the”, “of” and “and” easily and misses some content words; 10 of 15 correct is 67 %, the independent level, so the text suits that reader for work on their own, while 7 of 15 (47 %) would point to the instructional level.
Who uses it
Teachers choose class readers and check textbooks. Librarians and publishers test material for a target age group. Language teachers use cloze as an integrated reading and grammar exercise, and researchers use it to compare the readability of versions of a document with real readers.
Choosing a passage
Take a self-contained passage from the actual material, avoid the very first page of a book, which is often easier or harder than the rest, and leave out passages full of names or numbers, which cannot be predicted from context. Give the test without a time limit and without dictionaries; the aim is to measure reading, not research.
Related tools
Estimate difficulty without a reader using the Readability Checker or the Dale–Chall Calculator, build vocabulary with Flashcards, or count words with the Word Counter.
Checked against the current version of the Cloze Test Maker & Scorer on .