> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.chimeedu.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create Auto-Graded Fill-in-the-Blank Cloze Activities

> Build auto-graded cloze exercises on ChimeEdu. Students complete blanks in a passage — with optional hints, answer variants, and AI authoring.

Fill-in-the-Blank activities are cloze-style exercises where students complete missing words or phrases in a passage you write. Answers are auto-graded the moment students submit — no manual marking required. You stay in control of exactly which words are blanked, how lenient the marking is, and whether students can access hints.

## Key features

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Auto-grading" icon="bolt">
    Every submission is scored instantly. Results appear in your gradebook the moment a student clicks Submit — no waiting, no tallying.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Answer variants" icon="shuffle">
    Define multiple acceptable answers per blank to handle synonyms, common spelling variants, and partial matches without penalising correct thinking.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Optional hints" icon="lightbulb">
    Attach a hint to any blank. Students can choose to reveal it if they're stuck — and you decide whether using a hint deducts points.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Per-blank analytics" icon="chart-bar">
    After submission, see a breakdown of which blanks tripped students up most. Identify concepts that need re-teaching before moving on.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Rich passage formatting" icon="text">
    Write passages with headers, images, bold and italic text — no need to strip your source material down to plain text.
  </Card>

  <Card title="AI-assisted authoring" icon="wand-magic-sparkles">
    Paste a passage and let ChimeEdu AI suggest which words to blank out, with explanations for each choice. Available on Premium plans.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Creating a Fill-in-the-Blank activity

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open New Activity">
    From your classroom dashboard, click **New Activity** and select **Fill-in-the-Blank** from the activity type list.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write or paste your passage">
    Type your passage directly into the editor, or paste in text from an existing document. Use the formatting toolbar to add headers, images, bold text, or any other rich formatting your passage needs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Select words or phrases to blank">
    Highlight any word or phrase in the passage and click **Make Blank**. The selected text becomes a blank that students must complete. Repeat for each term or phrase you want to test.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure each blank">
    Click on any blank to open its settings. From here you can:

    * Add **answer variants** — alternative acceptable answers for that blank
    * Add an **optional hint** that students can reveal if they're stuck
  </Step>

  <Step title="Set hint point deduction">
    In the activity settings, choose whether revealing a hint deducts points from that blank's score. You can set a flat deduction or make hints free — the choice is yours per activity.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish to your classroom">
    When your activity is ready, click **Publish**. The activity appears immediately in every enrolled student's activity list.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Answer variants

By default, ChimeEdu grades each blank as correct only if the student's answer exactly matches the text you blanked. Answer variants let you expand what counts as correct — without lowering the standard.

For each blank, you can add as many variants as you need. Common uses include:

* **Synonyms** — accept "photosynthesis" and "photo-synthesis" for the same blank
* **Spelling variants** — accept both British and American spellings (e.g. "colour" / "color")
* **Abbreviations** — accept "DNA" and "deoxyribonucleic acid" for the same blank
* **Partial matches** — accept a key word even if the student includes minor surrounding text

Variants are case-insensitive by default, so you don't need to add capitalised versions separately.

## Optional hints

Attach a hint to any blank to give students a lifeline if they're stuck. Hints might be a definition, a first letter, a related concept, or any other prompt that helps without giving the answer away.

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Without point deduction">
    Hints are revealed freely, with no impact on the student's score. Use this approach for formative practice where the goal is learning, not assessment.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="With point deduction">
    Revealing a hint deducts a set number of points from that blank's score. Use this approach for summative tasks where you want to reward students who can recall the answer unaided.
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

Students always choose whether to reveal a hint — it is never shown automatically.

## Per-blank analytics

After students submit, ChimeEdu breaks down performance blank by blank. You can see:

* Which blanks had the highest error rate across the class
* The most common incorrect answers submitted for each blank
* How many students used a hint on each blank

Use this data to identify the specific concepts — not just the overall score — that need revisiting before your next lesson.

<Note>
  **AI-assisted authoring** is a Premium-tier feature. If you're on the Free or Plus plan, you can still create Fill-in-the-Blank activities manually — the AI suggestion step is simply unavailable. To upgrade, visit the [Pricing page](https://app.chimeedu.com/pricing).
</Note>

<Tip>
  You don't need to simplify your source material before pasting it in. ChimeEdu's rich passage editor supports headers, images, and formatted text alongside your blanks — paste your content as-is and format it inside the editor.
</Tip>


## Related topics

- [Use AI to Author Fill-in-the-Blank Activities on ChimeEdu](/teachers/ai/fill-in-the-blank-authoring.md)
- [ChimeEdu for Teachers: Your Interactive Classroom Hub](/teachers/introduction.md)
- [ChimeEdu Teacher FAQs — Classrooms, Activities & Plans](/help/faq-teachers.md)
- [ChimeEdu Classrooms: Your Hub for Teaching Content](/teachers/classrooms/overview.md)
- [Quick Activities: No Account Needed for One-Off Sessions](/teachers/activities/quick-activities.md)