Figurative Language Worksheet - Identify and Match Figurative Language Terms with Examples

Let’s go step by step to match each example with the correct type of figurative language.

We’ll use the definitions from the top of the worksheet:

- Simile: compares two things using “like” or “as”
- Metaphor: says one thing *is* another (not literally)
- Idiom: phrase that means something different than its literal meaning
- Hyperbole: extreme exaggeration
- Personification: giving human traits to non-human things
- Alliteration: same sound at start of words close together
- Onomatopoeia: word that sounds like what it describes
- Imagery: descriptive words that appeal to the five senses

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Now, let’s solve each sentence:

1. It is raining cats and dogs outside.
→ This is a common phrase that doesn’t mean animals are falling — it means heavy rain. That’s an idiom.
✔ Answer: b. idiom

2. The old door creaked open.
→ “Creaked” is a sound word — it mimics the noise the door makes. That’s onomatopoeia.
✔ Answer: c. onomatopoeia

3. Mom is a real bear when she’s mad.
→ Saying mom *is* a bear (not “like” a bear) — this is comparing her anger to a bear without using “like/as”. That’s a metaphor.
✔ Answer: a. metaphor

4. The trees danced around in the breeze.
→ Trees can’t dance — that’s a human action. Giving human behavior to trees = personification.
✔ Answer: b. personification

5. My backpack weighs a ton!
→ A backpack doesn’t actually weigh 2000 pounds — this is exaggeration for effect → hyperbole.
✔ Answer: c. hyperbole

6. Priya played piano perfectly.
→ All three words start with “p” — that’s repeating the same beginning sound → alliteration.
✔ Answer: b. alliteration

7. The fresh, juicy orange is tangy and sweet.
→ Words like “fresh,” “juicy,” “tangy,” “sweet” describe how it tastes/smells/feels — appealing to senses → imagery.
✔ Answer: a. imagery

8. My dad is as strong as an ox.
→ Uses “as...as” to compare dad to an ox → that’s a simile.
✔ Answer: c. simile

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Final Answer:
1. b
2. c
3. a
4. b
5. c
6. b
7. a
8. c