The Barton English Vocabulary Test

THE BARTON ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEST: Test Your Vocabulary Online For Free

Having a strong vocabulary is essential for understanding and communicating effectively in English.

Vocabulary listed in a dictionary

The Barton English Vocabulary Test was designed in 2012 and updated in 2021. A shorter Javascript version of the quiz can now be found here.

This vocabulary test contains hundreds of unique fill-in-the-blank questions to help you build your vocabulary, level by level. In the test, you'll have to select the most suitable word that matches the sentence in each question. The vocabulary test questions are divided into four English levels.

Here is an example of an upper-intermediate question:
"The outside of the restaurant was recently redesigned in order to ... more customers."

attract propose introduce restore

(The answer is attract).

Please read the level descriptions below to determine which level is best for you. The difficulty of each word has been determined by the English Vocabulary Profile (EVP) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA).

Feel free to repeat the test again and again so you can learn from your mistakes. Good luck!

Elementary (A2) (15 questions)

  • This level is designed to match CEFR A2 level (TOEIC:225, IELTS: 3).
  • Sample vocabulary from this level: fast, earn, write.

Intermediate (B1) (31 questions)

  • This level is designed to match CEFR B1 level (TOEFL iBT:42, TOEIC:550, IELTS:4.5).
  • Sample vocabulary from this level: suggest, doubt, interview.

Upper-Intermediate (B2) (48 questions)

  • This level is designed to match CEFR B2 level (TOEFL iBT:72, IELTS:6, FCE).
  • Sample vocabulary from this level: threaten, reliable, adjust.

Advanced (C1) (79 questions)

  • This level is designed to match CEFR C1 level (TOEFL iBT:95, TOEIC:945, IELTS:7.5, CAE).
  • Sample vocabulary from this level: gossip, eligible, optimistic.

Proficient (C2) (125 questions)

  • This level is designed to match CEFR C2 level (IELTS:9, CPE).
  • Sample vocabulary from this level: instinct, diplomatic, sacred.
Choose your test level:  Number of questions:


Last updated: Apr, 2021. All vocabulary test items are copyright Matthew Barton.