Cloze Test & Gap Filling — Choose by Collocation

✍️ Grammar · ⏱️ 8 min read · Updated September 2026

Read the whole passage first

A cloze is not a vocabulary lottery. The missing word must fit grammar (tense, article, preposition, connector) and the company of the words around it — that company is called collocation.

TGT, KVS, DSSSB and PGT papers put 5–10 blanks in one paragraph. If you fill blank 1 without reading blank 4, you often lock a wrong tense for the whole story.

हिन्दी: खाली जगह अकेले मत भरो। पूरा passage एक बार पढ़ो, फिर देखो पड़ोसी शब्द किस शब्द के साथ naturally आते हैं।

The 5-step method

Read once with blanks ignored. Get the topic and the time-frame (past story, general truth, instruction).
Mark the part of speech. Is the blank a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, article, preposition or connector?
Look left and right. Fixed phrases decide many answers: interested in, prevent from, in spite of, as soon as.
Eliminate. Cross options that break tense, number or meaning. Two remaining? Pick the collocation, not the “harder” word.
Re-read the sentence aloud. If it sounds like a translation, it is usually wrong.

💡 Pair this with Spotting Errors and Subject-Verb Agreement — the same zones fill cloze blanks.

Five gap types exams repeat

Type	Ask this	Typical pair
1. Article / determiner	Specific or general? Countable?	a / an / the / some / few / a few
2. Preposition	Which verb/adjective owns this blank?	in / on / at / to / from / of
3. Connector	Cause, contrast, time, or addition?	because / although / unless / however
4. Tense / verb form	Finished, ongoing, or habit?	has gone / went / had gone
5. Vocabulary collocation	Which word do natives park next to this noun?	make a decision, not *do a decision

Worked blank: “She is interested ___ classical poetry.” → in (adjective + fixed preposition). Not on, not for.

Pairs that steal marks

since / for: since + point of time; for + period.
few / a few: few = almost none (negative); a few = some (positive).
beside / besides: beside = next to; besides = in addition to.
between / among: between two; among more than two.
during / while: during + noun; while + clause.
although / despite: although + clause; despite + noun/gerund. ✗ *despite he was late*.

⚠️ Do not pick a synonym that breaks the phrase. Strong tea is right; powerful tea is not, even if both mean “force”.

📝 Practice articles & prepositions → 💬 Share

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← Back to all study notes · Notes by Dr Pankaj Tiwari, English Lecturer & Author.