A cloze test is a passage with gaps. It sounds simple, but it tests three things at once: vocabulary, grammar and understanding of the passage. That's why cloze questions appear in so many 11+ English and verbal ability papers — and why they reward children with a wide vocabulary.
The main types of 11+ cloze
1. Multiple-choice cloze (sentence completion)
Each gap has a set of options. This is the style of GL-type sentence completion questions.
The explorers had brought ____ supplies to last the whole winter.
significant · sufficient · sufficiently · suffering
Answer: sufficient — it means "enough". Significant is a close-looking trap; sufficiently is the wrong word class (an adverb).
2. Word-bank cloze
A single bank of words is given for the whole passage. Each word is used once, and there may be spare words.
Word bank: reluctant · glimpse · trudged · vivid
The tired hikers (1) ____ up the hill. At the top, they caught a (2) ____ of the sea, and the (3) ____ colours of the sunset made them forget their aching legs.
Answers: (1) trudged, (2) glimpse, (3) vivid. Reluctant is a spare word.
3. Missing-letter cloze
Some letters of a word are shown, and the child fills in the rest. This tests spelling as well as vocabulary.
The detective was p _ r p l _ x _ d by the strange footprints.
Answer: perplexed (puzzled)
4. Free-response cloze
No options at all — the child supplies a suitable word. Less common in multiple-choice tests, but seen in some schools' own papers.
Six cloze techniques
- Read the whole passage first. The meaning of a gap often depends on a sentence that comes later.
- Predict before you look. Decide what kind of word would fit, then find it among the options.
- Check the grammar. Does the gap need a noun, verb, adjective or adverb? Singular or plural? Past or present tense? This alone often eliminates half the options.
- Watch for look-alikes. Test-setters love near-identical words: affect/effect, sufficient/significant, precede/proceed.
- Use the word bank strategically. Fill the gaps you're sure of first, then cross those words off — fewer options remain for the tricky ones.
- Re-read the finished sentence. If it sounds odd aloud, something's wrong.
How to prepare
- Grow vocabulary steadily. Cloze rewards knowing precisely what a word means — start with our 100 essential 11+ words and synonyms and antonyms list.
- Know your word classes — nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.
- Practise spelling for missing-letter cloze.
- Read widely, so you develop an ear for what sounds right.
Elevenplus FC's Cloze Test builds fill-in-the-blank practice from comprehension passages, focused on key 11+ vocabulary — and sentence-completion sections appear in its GL, Kent and ISEB-style mock exams.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cloze test in the 11+?
A cloze test is a passage with words (or parts of words) removed. The child must fill each gap with the word that makes sense grammatically and in meaning. It tests vocabulary, grammar and reading comprehension together.
Which 11+ exams include cloze?
Cloze-style questions appear in many 11+ English and verbal ability papers, including GL-style sentence completion and CEM-style word-bank and missing-letter cloze. Check your target test's format.
How can my child get better at cloze tests?
Build vocabulary, read the whole passage before filling any gaps, check that each answer fits grammatically, and re-read the completed sentence to make sure it sounds right.