Fillintheblank

Fill-in-the-blank is a type of assessment item or exercise in which participants complete a passage by supplying missing word(s). It is used to test knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and the ability to apply information in context. In its simplest form, a sentence contains a blank representing a single word; more complex versions may require phrases or multiple blanks within a passage. Some formats provide hints such as the number of letters or the first letter, while others require an exact recall.

In education, fill-in-the-blank tasks appear in language learning, reading comprehension, and standardized tests. They can be administered on paper or digitally, with automatic scoring through exact-match comparison, sometimes allowing for case-insensitive matching or minor morphological variations, and occasionally with synonyms or paraphrases accepted.

From a design perspective, clear instructions and unambiguous blanks are essential. The number of blanks per sentence, distribution of difficulty, and coverage of target vocabulary influence reliability and validity. Ambiguity, excessive hints, or context that suggests a unique answer can undermine assessment quality.

Variations include cloze tests, where a large portion of the text is omitted according to a rule (for example, every nth word) to assess overall reading ability, and multiple-choice fill-ins, where candidates select the correct word from options.

Beyond testing, fill-in-the-blank activities are used for practice, homework, and language drills in classrooms and e-learning systems.