Identifying Similes and Metaphors

Decide whether each sentence contains a simile or a metaphor. Write the word SIMILE if the sentence contains a simile. Write the word METAPHOR if the sentence contains a metaphor.

1. The baby was like an octopus, grabbing at all the cans on the grocery store shelves.

2. As the teacher entered the room she muttered under her breath, "This class is like a three-ring circus!"

3. The giant’s steps were thunder as he ran toward Jack.

4. The pillow was a cloud when I put my head upon it after a long day.

5. I feel like a limp dishrag.

6. Those girls are like two peas in a pod.

7. The fluorescent light was the sun during our test.

8. No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket.

9. The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.

10. Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs.

Idioms

Directions: Write the meanings of these frequently used idioms:

1. catch a cold ______

2. see eye to eye______

3. under the weather______

4. stuffed to the gills______

5. out of the frying pan and into the fire______

6. slow boat to China______

7. nose to the grindstone______

8. on pins and needles______

9. fly off the handle______

10. toot your own horn______

11. pie in the sky______

12. head in the sand______

13. lay down the law______

14. born yesterda______

15. feel like a million______

16. just what the doctor ordered______

17. hold your horses______

18. cat has your tongue______

19. going bananas______

20. bury the hatchet______

Personification

On your own paper, write the object being personified and the meaning of the personification.

1. The wind sang her mournful song through the falling leaves.

2. The microwave timer told me it was time to turn my TV dinner.

3. The video camera observed the whole scene.

4. The strawberries seemed to sing, "Eat me first!"

5. The rain kissed my cheeks as it fell.

6. The daffodils nodded their yellow heads at the walkers.

7. The water beckoned invitingly to the hot swimmers.

8. The snow whispered as it fell to the ground during the early morning hours.

9. The china danced on the shelves during the earthquake.

The car engine coughed and sputtered when it started during the blizzard.

Hyperbole

Read through these hyperboles and write your top five at the bottom.

· she broke a chisel trying to get it off last night!" Johnny, from Prescott Middle School, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

· "she bought out Mary Kay just to have enough makeup for one day!" Andrea, from somewhere in South Dakota

· "Marilyn Manson freaked out when he saw her!" Nizam, from Bukit Panjang Gov't H. S., Singapore

· "when she takes it off, my mom doesn't recognize her." Ashley, from Knoxville, Tennessee

· "she has to use a sandblaster to get it off at night." Margaret

· "that I haven't seen her real face for years ..." Nivedita

· "when she smiles her cheeks fall off." Ed

· "she leaves a colour trail behind her when she walks!" Grant K.

· "you can't tell where the face begins and ends!" Cara K.

· "when she smiles, cracks the size of the Grand Canyon form in the surface." Ashley Brosseau

· "by the time she gets it all on, it's time to take it off!" Josh W.

· "she weighs 50 pounds more when she's done!" Alex

· "at night she has to get the paint scraper to take it off." Beth Atkins

· "when she takes it off she loses 30 pounds!" Benny H.

· "she could pass as a clown at the circus." Adriene T.

· "the artist formerly known as Prince gets ideas from her." Ashley Christine

· "you could scrape off just the outer layer and put it on five other girls." Scott J.

· "she looks like my grandmother!" Shireen, from Singapore