A method and a device can measure machine error of an axis of rotation in a tool post having a touch probe without restriction of an angular range of an angle of rotation. Directions of a measurement plane and a measurement axis in a five-axis measurement are switched in correspondence to a range of the angle of rotation in a touch probe. The five-axis measurement is carried out by setting a position in a direction of a measurement axis in a measurement plane to a position where a reference sphere does not interfere with a lever rod of the touch probe as occasion demands. The five-axis measurement is carried out, for example, by setting the measurement plane to a position which is perpendicular to a line connecting an estimated center of the reference sphere and a center of a tip sphere or the lever rod of the touch probe.