Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but you're asking if you can tell which part of a battery is the cathode and which is the anode before testing it?
Generally you can by looking at the material that makes up each "side." A battery is made through an electrochemical reaction. This reaction has two parts: reduction and oxidation. The reduction part occurs at the cathode while the oxidation part occurs at the anode. You can tell which is which by comparing the materials and seeing which one is likely to be reduced and which is likely to be oxidized.