8th grade similes and metaphors worksheets

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Eighth grade figures are longer. A simile often closes a full clause (she moved through the crowd like a needle through cloth), and a metaphor may run across two clauses, which is how an extended metaphor starts. The sort still turns on one question: does the comparison use like or as?

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.8.5.a.

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

The kind of phrases you'll sort

Write each phrase from the bank under Simile or Metaphor.

his patience wore down like the tread on an old tirethe lake at dawn was polished pewter under a pale skythe team moved down the field like a single machinehis words were sparks, and the crowd was dry tinderthe crowd parted like a curtain opening on a stagethe library is a harbor where restless readers drop anchorthe drought dragged on like a sentence with no periodher essay was a staircase, each paragraph one step higher

Columns: Simile and Metaphor. "the crowd parted like a curtain opening on a stage" belongs under simile; "the library is a harbor where restless readers drop anchor" belongs under metaphor.

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

What's on an 8th grade sheet

8th grade sheets draw from 82 phrases, 14 to a page. None of these phrases are on 7th grade sheets.

Some of the words:

the rumor spread like water through a cracked cupthe old bridge stood as gray as a winter morningthe hallway was as quiet as a library after closingthe orchestra tuned up like birds before dawnher laugh broke the tension like a window thrown openhis mind worked as steadily as a grandfather clockthe city was a hive, and its streets were humming corridorsher calm was the anchor that kept the whole group steadythe forest floor was a mosaic of copper leavesthe traffic jam was a snake of red taillights

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

The extended metaphors are the new part. In the city was a hive, and its streets were humming corridors, the second clause keeps the hive going instead of starting a new picture. Have your student find the words in each long metaphor that belong to the same image. Then try it in writing: pick one metaphor from the page and carry it through three more sentences without switching images.

Watch for: Like or as is the tell for a simile, but the words must build a comparison; 'I like pizza' isn't one. A metaphor isn't a lie; nobody thinks the room is literally a zoo. It's a picture painted with a claim.

Common questions about 8th grade similes and metaphors

What is an extended metaphor?
One comparison carried through several lines. If a writer calls the final exam a mountain and then talks about switchbacks and the view from the top, that is one extended metaphor, not three separate ones.
Why does the eighth grade sort leave out personification and hyperbole?
Those two get their practice on the literary devices sheet, where each line is named from a set of eight devices. This sort sticks to similes and metaphors.

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Aligned to Common Core L.8.5.a. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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