Animal Idioms worksheet with illustrated animals and fill-in-the-blank sentences for language learning.

Explanation:
This task is about matching animal idioms to their correct blanks in sentences. Each sentence has a missing word or phrase that is an idiom using an animal name (e.g., “eager beaver”, “smell a rat”, “copycat”, etc.). The goal is to fill in each blank with the appropriate idiom based on meaning and context.

Let’s go through each sentence one by one, using common English idioms and matching them to the clues:

1. *“Ever since he got his new drill set my husband has been an eager ______ around the house.”*
→ “Eager beaver” = someone very enthusiastic. ✔
Answer: beaver

2. *“I asked my brothers not to tell my parents that I went out, but I could smell ______ as soon as I opened the door.”*
→ “Smell a rat” = suspect something is wrong or suspicious. ✔
Answer: a rat

3. *“My sister is such a copy ______. First she bought the same car as me, and now she’s applying to my school.”*
→ “Copycat” = someone who imitates others. ✔
Answer: cat

4. *“The boy should stop the ______ business and try to do the job the correct way.”*
→ “Bee business” isn’t standard. But “monkey business” = silly or dishonest activity. Also fits with the monkey image nearby. ✔
Answer: monkey

5. *“He ate everything himself and made a real ______ of himself.”*
→ “Pig” — “make a pig of oneself” = eat greedily. ✔
Answer: pig

6. *“It was great to see him again. We haven’t met for ______ years.”*
→ “Dog years” is not standard here. But “cat years” no. Wait—common idiom: “a dog’s age” = a very long time. But the blank is “______ years”. Actually, it's likely “dog”, as in “dog years” is used informally, but more accurately: *“We haven’t met for dog years”* is colloquial. However, standard idiom is “a dog’s age”, but the blank is just before “years”, so probably dog. Let’s hold and check other clues.

Alternatively, look at image: there’s a dog picture near #6? Actually, the layout shows animals surrounding the text. But better to rely on standard idioms.

Most common: “dog years” is used playfully, but the real idiom is *“It’s been a dog’s age”*. Since it says “for ______ years”, likely dog is expected.

7. *“Don’t worry about her. She wouldn’t hurt a ______.”*
→ “Hurt a fly” = very gentle, harmless. ✔
Answer: fly

8. *“His wife never lets him do what he wants and as a result he leads a ______ life.”*
→ “Cat” — “lead a cat’s life” isn’t standard. Wait: “led a dog’s life” = miserable life. Yes! “Lead a dog’s life” = live poorly/hard. ✔
Answer: dog

9. *“I don’t honestly think he is capable of being polite as the ______ never changes his spots.”*
→ “Leopard never changes its spots” — idiom meaning people don’t change their nature. ✔
Answer: leopard

10. *“He’s got a real ______ in his bonnet about buying a new car.”*
→ “Bee in his bonnet” = obsessed/fixed idea. ✔
Answer: bee

11. *“Don’t tell him any secrets – he’s a ______ in the grass.”*
→ Not standard. Wait—“snake in the grass” = a treacherous person hiding. ✔
Answer: snake

12. *“Maybe you shouldn’t talk to Maria about that. You’re about to open a can of ______.”*
→ “Open a can of worms” = start a complicated/problematic situation. ✔
Answer: worms

13. *“We sat down and started the exam under the ______ eye of the teacher.”*
→ “Hawk-eyed” or “eagle eye” — “under the eagle eye” = strict supervision. ✔
Answer: eagle

14. *“If you learn or repeat a piece of text ______ fashion, you learn or repeat the exact words, usually without understanding them.”*
→ “Parrot fashion” = repeat like a parrot, without understanding. ✔
Answer: parrot

15. *“She is absolutely crazy. She seems to have ______ in her belfry.”*
→ “Bats in her belfry” = crazy. ✔
Answer: bats

16. *“He looks powerful, but is actually weak. He is a paper ______.”*
→ “Paper tiger” = something that looks threatening but is harmless. ✔
Answer: tiger

17. *“He acted the ______ in order to make people laugh.”*
→ “Clown” isn’t animal. But “buffalo”? No. Wait — “monkey”! “Act the monkey” = behave foolishly for fun. ✔
Answer: monkey
(Note: #4 also used monkey — possible duplicate? But idioms can repeat; however, let’s double-check.)

Actually, #4: “stop the ______ business” → definitely monkey business.
#17: “acted the ______” → common phrase is “acted the fool”, but animal? “Acted the goat” is British slang for behaving stupidly. But more common in ESL worksheets: “acted the clown” — but not animal.

Wait — look at images: there’s a goat? No. There’s a monkey image near #17? In many such worksheets, #17 is goat (“act the goat”) — British English idiom meaning to behave foolishly. But US English prefers “monkey”. However, given the animal images include a goat? Actually, in the grid, there is a gray goat-like creature at bottom left — maybe a jackal or hyena? Hmm.

Let’s cross-verify with standard school idiom lists. Common ones:
- act the goat ✔ (UK)
- but many worksheets use “monkey” for both #4 and #17 — acceptable if allowed.

However, sentence 4 is *“stop the ______ business”* → only monkey business fits.
Sentence 17: *“He acted the ______”* → the standard animal idiom is goat (especially in British English), but if this is for general ESL, they may expect clown — but clown isn’t animal.

Wait — there’s a donkey image (gray with big ears) near bottom center. “Act the ass” = act like a donkey (fool). But “ass” is informal/rude.

Let’s check #19 and #20 for more clues.

18. *“He was ashamed. He was as red as a ______.”*
→ “Red as a beet” — but beet not animal. Animal? “red as a lobster” — yes! Used idiom: “red as a lobster” for blushing. ✔
Answer: lobster

19. *“Okay, Bob, we have business to discuss. Let’s talk ______.”*
→ “Talk turkey” = speak seriously/businesslike. ✔
Answer: turkey

20. *“I knew that Tom wasn’t a sleep. He was just playing ______.”*
→ “Playing possum” = pretending to be dead/asleep. Opossum = “possum**”. ✔
Answer: possum

Now revisit #6: “We haven’t met for ______ years.”
Common idiom: dog years is used humorously (since dogs age faster), but the phrase is usually “It’s been dog years” informally. More standard: *“a dog’s age”*, but blank is before “years”, so dog is intended.

#8: “leads a ______ life” → “dog’s life” = miserable. So dog used twice? Possible — idioms can repeat, but let’s see if any conflict.

Check list of animals used in images: parrot, bee, turkey, pig, fly, rabbit?, eagle, cat, snake, bat, tiger, monkey, lobster, donkey, owl, cheetah, etc.

Let’s compile all answers with confidence:

1. beaver
2. a rat
3. cat
4. monkey
5. pig
6. dog
7. fly
8. dog *(but wait — conflict? Let's verify #8 again)*

Actually, re-read #8: *“His wife never lets him do what he wants and as a result he leads a ______ life.”*
Yes — “lead a dog’s life” = very hard/miserable. So dog.

But then #6 also dog. That’s okay — worksheets sometimes reuse.

9. leopard
10. bee
11. snake
12. worms
13. eagle
14. parrot
15. bats
16. tiger
17. goat? or monkey? Let’s search standard ESL idiom lists for “acted the ___”:
→ Cambridge Dictionary: “act the goat” (UK) = behave foolishly.
Given this is likely a British-influenced worksheet (uses “bonnet”, “belfry”), goat is probable.

Is there a goat image? In the grid, bottom row has: cheetah, lobster, donkey, owl, and a green frog in cup — no obvious goat. But there is a brown animal with horns at top left? That’s a ram or goat? Possibly.

Alternatively, #17 might be fool, but must be animal. Let’s accept goat.

18. lobster
19. turkey
20. possum

Now double-check #13: “under the ______ eye” — definitely eagle (eagle eye).

#15: “bats in her belfry” — yes.

#12: “can of worms” — yes.

All fit.

Final list:
1. beaver
2. a rat
3. cat
4. monkey
5. pig
6. dog
7. fly
8. dog
9. leopard
10. bee
11. snake
12. worms
13. eagle
14. parrot
15. bats
16. tiger
17. goat
18. lobster
19. turkey
20. possum

Note: For #2, blank is “smell ______”, and the idiom is “smell a rat”, so answer is a rat — but the blank may expect just “rat”, however the sentence says “smell ______”, and “smell a rat” requires “a rat”. But in fill-in-the-blank worksheets, they often omit articles in blanks, so likely just rat. Let’s check wording: “I could smell ______ as soon as I opened the door.” — natural fill is “a rat”, but blank length suggests one word? In such worksheets, they usually expect rat (implying “a rat” is understood).

Similarly, #12: “can of ______” → “worms” (plural).

We’ll provide single-word answers as expected in such exercises (articles omitted).

So final answers (one word each):

1. beaver
2. rat
3. cat
4. monkey
5. pig
6. dog
7. fly
8. dog
9. leopard
10. bee
11. snake
12. worms
13. eagle
14. parrot
15. bats
16. tiger
17. goat
18. lobster
19. turkey
20. possum

Yes.

Final Answer:
beaver, rat, cat, monkey, pig, dog, fly, dog, leopard, bee, snake, worms, eagle, parrot, bats, tiger, goat, lobster, turkey, possum