6th grade adages and proverbs worksheets
Sixth graders compare proverbs that conflict and argue which fits a given case, which is the sayings working as intended.
Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.5.5.b.
A new sheet every click.
The kind of sentences you'll fix
Complete the saying: choose the ending that fits, and write it on the line.
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Rushing the science fair project, I learned that good things come (to early birds / to rolling stones / to those who wait).
Fixed: Rushing the science fair project, I learned that good things come to those who wait.
- Don’t count your chickens (before they crow / before they hatch / until they roost), especially with our hens.
- Six of us stirring one pot proved that too many cooks (gather no moss / make light work / spoil the broth).
Every print pulls a fresh set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.
What's on each sheet
- Fix it. Complete the saying: choose the ending that fits, and write it on the line. 8 sentences to fix per page.
Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.
How to teach this
Stage a proverb debate: look before you leap versus he who hesitates is lost. Pick a scenario and argue both sides. The debate is the deepest possible reading of both sayings.
Watch for: Proverbs are advice, not descriptions: each one exists to guide a choice. Matching the saying to the situation is matching advice to a problem. Some proverbs argue with each other (many hands make light work; too many cooks spoil the broth). Both are true in different situations, and knowing WHICH situation is the actual skill.
Common questions about adages and proverbs
- Why do some proverbs contradict each other?
- Because life does. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and out of sight, out of mind are both true, in different cases. Choosing between them is judgment practice.
- What is mastery here?
- Deploying the right saying at the right moment, or spotting when someone else's proverb doesn't actually fit their case. That is rhetoric, beginning.
Related worksheets
- 4th grade adages and proverbs A step easier, same skill
- 5th grade adages and proverbs A step easier, same skill
- 6th grade absorbed prefixes (im-, il-, ir-) Same grade, nearby skill
- 6th grade analogies Same grade, nearby skill
- 6th grade connotation and denotation Same grade, nearby skill
- Adages and proverbs, all grades The full progression
- All 6th grade English worksheets Every skill at this level
- All 6th grade worksheets Everything at this level
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Aligned to Common Core L.5.5.b. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 179, updated August 2026.
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