Why do idioms exist at all?

Languages compress shared experience into shortcuts. Native speakers absorb thousands; these pages give everyone else the same collection on purpose.

What is the sign of mastery?

Catching a brand-new idiom in the wild and inferring its meaning from context alone, which is this worksheet's skill running free.

6th grade idioms

6th grade idioms worksheets

Sixth graders own a broad idiom vocabulary and notice idioms at work in novels, headlines, and conversation everywhere.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.5.5.b.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll fix

Choose the idiom that fits the sentence, and write it on the line.

The new crosswalk was (a fly on the wall / a long time coming / over the moon), and everyone said so.
Fixed: The new crosswalk was a long time coming, and everyone said so.
When Grandma won the raffle, she was (in hot water / over the moon / under the weather).
With the bridge closed, drivers and cyclists are (in the same boat / on thin ice / under the same umbrella).

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 6th grade sheet

6th grade sheets draw from 40 sentences, 8 to a page. 3rd to 6th grade print from the same 40 sentences. The teaching notes below are written for this grade.

A few of the sentences, as the answer key corrects them:

We can’t have the picnic now; it’s raining cats and dogs out there.
Are you serious, or are you pulling my leg about the talking crow?
Before the spelling bee, I had butterflies in my stomach.

Fix it. Choose the idiom that fits the sentence, 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

Hunt idioms in one chapter of any novel; there will be several. Discussing why the author chose the idiom over the plain word is real literary analysis, disguised as a scavenger hunt.

Watch for: Idioms cannot be figured out letter by letter; they are learned as whole phrases, like vocabulary with a wink. The context sentence always carries the real meaning. Kids learning English deserve extra patience here: idioms are the least fair part of the language, and collecting them is the only route.

Common questions about 6th grade idioms

Why do idioms exist at all?: Languages compress shared experience into shortcuts. Native speakers absorb thousands; these pages give everyone else the same collection on purpose.
What is the sign of mastery?: Catching a brand-new idiom in the wild and inferring its meaning from context alone, which is this worksheet's skill running free.

Related worksheets

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Aligned to Common Core L.5.5.b. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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