Free Iowa Assessments (ITBS) practice test — Grade 5
10 original Iowa Assessments (ITBS)-style questions for Grade 5, with answers and full explanations. No signup needed.
These free Iowa Assessments™ (ITBS) practice questions match the formats your child will actually see — picture-based vocabulary, listening, and word analysis at K–2, and reading, language, and math through grade 8.
Every question is original with a full explanation. Younger levels mirror the real test's three-choice picture format; upper levels use the four-choice format with 'No mistakes' language items.
Long before ships had radios, sailors depended on lighthouses. Each lighthouse flashed its light in its own special pattern, like a name written in light. A captain far from shore could count the flashes, check a chart, and know exactly which coast was near. Lighthouse keepers lived beside the tower all year. Every evening they climbed the winding stairs to light the great lamp, and every morning they climbed again to put it out. It was lonely work, but keepers were proud: their light kept strangers they would never meet safe from the rocks.
When did keepers light the great lamp?
- AEvery evening
- BOnce a week
- CEvery morning
- DOnly during storms
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Evenings to light, mornings to put out — A. The other choices are not supported by the passage.
- Afermentation
- Btranspiration
- Ccondensation
- Derosion
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
The correct answer is: transpiration. The other choices do not correctly answer the question.
12 × 60 = ?
- A720
- B710
- C730
- D719
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
12 × 60 = 720 (A). The other choices come from common slips: dropped carries or borrows, place-value slides, and off-by-one counting.
Use the graph to answer: Which had the FEWEST?
- APears
- BGrapes
- CApples
- DPlums
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Read each bar against the scale: Apples = 10, Pears = 4, Grapes = 3, Plums = 11. So the answer is Grapes — B.
a chilly morning
Chilly means about the same as —
- Aearly
- Bcold
- Cfoggy
- Dquiet
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
"chilly" means cold — B. The other words describe things that might fit the scene, but none means "chilly".
Want to know if your child would pass the real thing?
The free Iowa Assessments (ITBS) diagnostic tests every section and shows a skill-by-skill readiness picture in minutes.
Start free diagnosticWhich word is spelled wrong?
- Afriend
- Bwritting
- Creally
- Doutside
- E(No mistakes)
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
"writting" is wrong; the correct spelling is "writing" (B).
Which line has a mistake in capitalization or punctuation?
- AThe students wrote letters
- Bto Mrs. Osei thanking her
- Cfor the field trip on
- DApril 3 to the museum.
- E(No mistakes)
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Line B has the mistake: a comma is needed here. It should read "to Mrs. Osei, thanking her".
The bread on your table starts as a field of wheat. In summer, giant machines called combines cut the wheat and separate the grain from the stalks. Trucks carry the grain to a mill, where heavy rollers crush it into soft white flour. At the bakery, the baker mixes flour with water, salt, and yeast. The yeast is alive: it eats sugars in the dough and breathes out tiny bubbles of gas. Those bubbles are what make the bread rise, giving each loaf its light, airy inside.
Which happens FIRST?
- AThe grain is crushed
- BThe loaf rises
- CThe wheat is cut in the field
- DThe dough is mixed
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
The passage moves from field to mill to bakery — C. The other choices are not supported by the passage.
- Anuclear energy
- Blight energy
- Celastic potential energy
- Dsound energy
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
The correct answer is: elastic potential energy. The other choices do not correctly answer the question.
52 × 16 = ?
- A832
- B833
- C842
- D822
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
52 × 16 = 832 (A). The other choices come from common slips: dropped carries or borrows, place-value slides, and off-by-one counting.
Iowa Assessments (ITBS) FAQ
What does the Iowa Assessments test?
Depending on level: Vocabulary, Word Analysis, Listening, Reading, Language, and Mathematics — with Science and Social Studies joining from grade 1 and Computation at grades 3+.
Is the ITBS the same as the Iowa Assessments?
Yes — the Iowa Test of Basic Skills was renamed the Iowa Assessments (Form E and later). Schools use both names for the same battery.
What is a good Iowa Assessments score?
Scores are reported as national percentile ranks; many schools flag the 90th+ percentile for advanced programs, but each school sets its own bar.
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