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SSC CGL Cloze Test Questions 2026 (Passage with 5 Blanks — Vocabulary, Grammar & Linkers) — Free Chapter Wise Practice Test

One passage, five blanks, four options each — and for every blank, exactly one word that fits both the sentence and the passage. Practise the cloze test in the exact SSC CGL and CHSL pattern: vocabulary in context, collocations and phrasal verbs, prepositions, verb forms, linking words, articles and pronouns. 100 fresh passages, none taken from a previous year paper. 25 questions per test, with a step-by-step solution and a memory trick for every blank.

2 Difficulty Levels 25 Questions per Test 15 min optional timer 5 passages per test CGL & CHSL pattern

Cloze Test Practice Tests — Pick a Level and Start

Tap a level to see every test in it. Each test has five passages with five blanks each. Level 1 is set at real SSC CGL difficulty — start there. Level 2 is pitched above the exam, with denser passages, harder words and wrong options that miss by a shade of meaning.

Level 1 SSC CGL Level Checking… View tests

Same difficulty as the real SSC CGL and CHSL paper. Short passages of 120–180 words on everyday topics — the monsoon, honeybees, first aid, the printing press — with one clear clue for each blank. Every test has ten vocabulary blanks, two collocations, four prepositions, four verb forms, three linking words and two articles or pronouns, and the wrong options are the classic SSC ones: a look-alike word, the right idea in the wrong form, or a linker that reverses the logic.

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Level 2 Above SSC CGL Level Checking… View tests

Harder than the exam asks. Denser analytical passages of 170–250 words — antibiotic resistance, carbon markets, deepfakes, the rise of the novel — with Mains-level words such as curtail, ubiquitous and supplant. More collocations and linkers, and wrong options that are near-misses: mitigate against alleviate, whereas against nevertheless. The clue for a blank often sits in the next sentence, so the whole passage has to be read.

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Every cloze question asks one thing: which word fits this blank in this passage? A cloze test is a short passage with five words taken out. For each blank there are four options, and the right one must fit the grammar of the sentence and the meaning of the whole passage — a word that sounds fine in the sentence alone can still be wrong because of what comes next.

Marks are lost in three places. The first is reading the sentence, not the passage — the clue for a blank is often in the next sentence, and skipping it lets a plausible wrong word through. The second is the look-alike — affect and effect, adapt and adopt, eminent and imminent. The third is the linking word: although, therefore, however and unless each set up a different relation between two ideas, and the wrong one turns the passage’s logic upside down.

SSC CGL Previous Year Papers Free Online Test Attempt SSC CGL Mock Test 2026 Free

How Many Cloze Test Questions Are Asked in SSC CGL?

The cloze test is the biggest single block in the English section — one passage with five blanks, so five questions and ten marks, in most SSC CGL and CHSL Tier I shifts. In some shifts a reading comprehension passage comes in its place, and the Tier II English paper has cloze passages too. Here is where it appears.

ExamCloze questions
SSC CGL Tier I5 in most shifts (one passage)
SSC CHSL Tier I5 in most shifts (one passage)
SSC CGL Tier II (English module)Cloze passages alongside comprehension
SSC CHSL Tier IICloze passages alongside comprehension

Because all five blanks sit in one passage, reading it once properly saves time on every one of them.

What You Will Practice in the Cloze Test Chapter

Vocabulary blanks

  • The content word — noun, verb, adjective or adverb — whose meaning fits the idea of the passage
  • Collocations and fixed phrases: pay attention, carry out, take a toll, play a part, heavy rain
  • Look-alike and sound-alike words: affect / effect, adapt / adopt, endemic / epidemic
  • Near-synonyms that differ in shade: reduce / curtail / diminish, prevent / prohibit

Grammar blanks

  • Prepositions after verbs and adjectives: depend on, prone to, aware of, in spite of
  • Verb forms: tense agreement, the present perfect with since and for, active or passive, gerund or infinitive
  • Linking words: although, because, however, therefore, unless, whereas, despite
  • Articles, pronouns, relative pronouns and quantifiers: a / the, who / whose / which, few / little, each / every

What the five blanks test — and the clue to look for

Blank typeThe clue to look for
Vocabulary in contextThe idea of the sentence and the one after it — positive or negative, cause or result
Collocation / phrasal verbThe word the blank partners with — “a heavy ___”, “___ attention”
PrepositionThe verb or adjective just before the blank — depend on, prone to
Verb formThe subject, a time word (since, yesterday, every year) and whether the subject acts or is acted on
Linking wordHow the two ideas relate — contrast, reason, result, condition
Article / pronounThe noun after the blank and what the pronoun points back to

In these tests about half the blanks in every passage are vocabulary and half are grammar — the same mix as the exam.

The three mistakes that cost the most marks

  • Filling blanks before reading the passage. The topic and tone decide many blanks; read the whole passage once first.
  • Stopping at the end of the sentence. “Although” and “because” can both look right until the next sentence shows which relation the writer means.
  • Choosing the word that sounds familiar. A word students have seen often — or one that looks like the right word — is the commonest trap; check that its meaning really fits.

Solved Examples — SSC CGL Cloze Test

Read the passage, then the four blanks below it.

Many Indian cities are now planting small “pocket forests” on empty plots. Dozens of native saplings are planted very close together, (1)________ they compete for light and grow quickly. Within three years the plot needs almost no care, because the young forest has become (2)________. Residents say the forests have (3)________ birds and butterflies back to their neighbourhoods. The idea is simple, but its success depends (4)________ choosing species that belong to the local soil.
Q1. Blank (1)
(a) although  (b) unless  (c) lest  (d) so
Planting close together is the cause; competing for light is the result. A result needs “so”; although (contrast) and unless (condition) break the logic. Answer: (d) so
Q2. Blank (2)
(a) self-centred  (b) self-sustaining  (c) self-conscious  (d) self-employed
The forest “needs almost no care”, so it must look after itself. Self-centred, self-conscious and self-employed describe people, not a forest. Answer: (b) self-sustaining
Q3. Blank (3)
(a) drawn  (b) dragged  (c) pushed  (d) thrown
The forests attract birds back — “draw back” means attract. Dragged, pushed and thrown all mean using force, which trees cannot do. Answer: (a) drawn
Q4. Blank (4)
(a) in  (b) at  (c) with  (d) on
“Depend” always takes “on” (or “upon”). Answer: (d) on

How the Cloze Test Tests Work

  • 25 questions per test — five passages of five blanks each — with a full question palette: answered, skipped, marked for review, not visited.
  • The whole passage on every question, with the blank being asked in bold, so you never lose the context.
  • Optional 15-minute timer — with the clock to build exam speed, without it while you are still learning the chapter.
  • Marking: +2 correct, −0.5 wrong, 0 unattempted — the same scheme as the real paper.
  • Step-by-step solutions and a memory trick open after you submit, question by question — the sentence, the clue in the passage, the rule, why each wrong option fails, and the trap students fall into.
  • In English, as in the exam — English Language questions are set in English in SSC CGL and CHSL.
  • Free with a TrickySSC account — sign in once with Google or your mobile number, and every test is open to you.

How to Prepare the Cloze Test for SSC CGL

  1. Read the whole passage first. Thirty seconds on the topic and tone pays back on all five blanks.
  2. Name the blank. Does it need a word of meaning, or a word of grammar — a preposition, a verb form, a linker? That decides how you check the options.
  3. Read one sentence past the blank. The clue is often there — especially for linking words and for words with a positive or negative tone.
  4. Check grammar and meaning together. The right option fits both; a word with the right meaning in the wrong form is still wrong.
  5. Learn words in partnerships. Note collocations (take a toll, pay attention) and preposition pairs (prone to, depend on) as you meet them — cloze blanks test them constantly.
  6. Do Level 1 untimed first, then with the 15-minute clock. Move to Level 2 once Level 1 is steady, and then check yourself on a previous year paper.

All SSC CGL Chapter Wise Tests

Every chapter below has its own free Level 1 and Level 2 tests with full solutions.

Browse all 75 chapter tests — Maths (35) · Reasoning (28) · English (12)
English Language
General Intelligence & Reasoning
Quantitative Aptitude (Maths)

SSC CGL Cloze Test — Frequently Asked Questions

How many cloze test questions are asked in SSC CGL?
One passage with five blanks, so five questions worth ten marks, in most SSC CGL and CHSL Tier I shifts. In some shifts a reading comprehension passage takes its place, and the Tier II English paper has cloze passages as well.
What does a cloze test check?
Vocabulary and grammar together. Roughly half the blanks need the content word whose meaning fits the passage; the rest test prepositions, verb forms, linking words such as although and therefore, articles and pronouns, and fixed word partnerships such as pay attention or carry out.
How should I solve a cloze test?
Read the whole passage once before filling any blank, so you know the topic and the writer’s tone. Then for each blank decide whether it needs a word of meaning or a word of grammar, read the full sentence and the next one, and pick the option that fits both the meaning and the grammar.
Are the passages in these tests taken from previous year papers?
No. All 100 passages are written fresh for TrickySSC in the SSC pattern, on new topics, and none repeats or adapts a previous year cloze passage, so every test is unseen practice.
What is the most common trap in cloze test questions?
A word that fits the sentence on its own but not the passage. The clue often sits in the next sentence, so a word that looks right in isolation can contradict what follows. Look-alike words such as affect and effect, and linkers that reverse the logic, are the other common traps.
How many questions are in each test?
Twenty-five questions per test, from five passages of five blanks each, with an optional 15-minute timer and the real exam marking of +2 for a correct answer, −0.5 for a wrong one and 0 for an unattempted question.
Are the tests in English or Hindi?
The cloze tests are in English, as the English Language section is in SSC CGL and CHSL. Every solution quotes the sentence, names the clue, applies the rule and explains why each wrong option fails, in simple English.
What is the difference between Level 1 and Level 2?
Level 1 is set at real SSC CGL difficulty, with everyday topics, common exam words and one clear clue for each blank. Level 2 is harder than the exam: denser analytical passages, Mains-level words and near-miss options such as mitigate and alleviate, where the clue may sit in the next sentence.

More Free SSC CGL Practice

SSC CGL English Chapter Wise TestEvery English chapter, Level 1–2 English Previous Year QuestionsShift-wise SSC CGL English SSC CGL Previous Year PapersShift-wise papers with solutions SSC CGL Mock Test 2026Full-length, real sectional timing