Similes and metaphors worksheets
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A simile compares with like or as: brave as a lion. A metaphor says one thing IS another: the classroom was a zoo.
Six grades, four different sets of phrases: 4th to 6th grade share one. Print one here, or open a grade for examples and teaching notes.
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3rd grade
A simile compares two different things with the word like or as: the puppy ran like a cheetah. A metaphor makes the comparison without those words. It says one thing is another: my sister is a tornado. On the 3rd grade sheet, children read short phrases and write each one under Simile or Metaphor.
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4th grade Core grade
Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.
Similes and metaphors both compare two unlike things: a simile signals it with like or as (slept like a log), while a metaphor states it outright (homework is a mountain). Fourth graders sort figurative phrases by which tool they use.
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5th grade
Fifth graders sort quickly and start asking the better question: what do the two compared things share? A temper and a volcano share sudden eruptions; that shared ground is what the writer wants noticed.
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6th grade
Sixth graders treat similes and metaphors as author's choices: a simile keeps its distance (her voice was like music) while a metaphor commits (her voice is music). Recognizing which tool a writer picked, and why, feeds directly into literary analysis.
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7th grade
A simile compares two things using like or as. A metaphor makes the same comparison without them, saying one thing is the other. Seventh grade comparisons come from the sentences a novel or an essay would use, so the sort asks a reader to notice the form rather than the picture.
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8th grade
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?
More on figurative language
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