The ceramic molded body of the present invention includes spherical cells of a spherical bubble plurally formed therein: in the ceramic molded body the spherical cells neighboring each other are communicated through communication porosities and form a three-dimensional network structure, and a ratio (M.sub.d/M.sub.D) of a median (M.sub.d) of inner diameters of the communication porosities to a median (M.sub.D) of inner diameters of the spherical cells is less than 0.5. In the ceramic molded body used for manufacturing a metal matrix composite, a metal is filled within the spherical cells and the communication porosities.