Reading Vocabulary for the Citizenship Test
All 64 words on the official USCIS list for the reading portion of the naturalization test. You must read one sentence out loud correctly, out of up to three tries.
Still current. This list carries a 2014 revision stamp, which looks stale next to a test that changed in October 2025. It is not: that change applied to the civics questions only, and the notice implementing it says it does not change the English parts of the test.
The full list
Grouped exactly as USCIS groups it. Entries joined by a slash ("is/are/was/be") are one entry on the official list, not several: any of those forms can appear.
People
- Abraham Lincoln
- George Washington
Civics
- American flag
- Bill of Rights
- capital
- citizen
- city
- Congress
- country
- Father of Our Country
- government
- President
- right
- Senators
- state/states
- White House
Places
- America
- United States
- U.S.
Holidays
- Presidents' Day
- Memorial Day
- Flag Day
- Independence Day
- Labor Day
- Columbus Day
- Thanksgiving
Question Words
- How
- What
- When
- Where
- Who
- Why
Verbs
- can
- come
- do/does
- elects
- have/has
- is/are/was/be
- lives/lived
- meet
- name
- pay
- vote
- want
Other (function words)
- a
- for
- here
- in
- of
- on
- the
- to
- we
Other (content words)
- colors
- dollar bill
- first
- largest
- many
- most
- north
- one
- people
- second
- south
How to use this list
The officer will show you a sentence on a screen and ask you to read it aloud. The sentences are ordinary questions and statements about civics and history, assembled from the words above: "Who was the first President?", "When do we vote for President?"
Practise reading out loud rather than silently. The test is not whether you recognise the words, it is whether you can say them so the officer understands. Pay particular attention to the question words group, since most reading sentences begin with one.
The other list
The writing portion has its own list of 75 words. They overlap on the civics and history terms but they are not the same list, so learning one does not cover the other.
Frequently asked questions
How many words are on the reading vocabulary list?
64, grouped into 8 categories by USCIS. Every sentence on the reading portion of the test is built from these words.
Is this reading list still current after the 2025 test change?
Yes. The 2025 change applied to the civics test only. The notice implementing it states that it does not change the English language parts of the naturalization test, so this list is unchanged and still official.
How many sentences do I have to read?
You must read one sentence out loud correctly, out of up to three tries.
Source: the official USCIS reading vocabulary list. Reproduced without changes. This site is independent and not affiliated with USCIS.