Figurative Language Practice

1.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Colin’s drinking straw bent like a tiny elbow, causing the last of the orange juice to gurgle as it slipped past.

The comparison of Collin’s drinking straw to an elbow is an example of

a simile

a metaphor

a hyperbole

an idiom

2.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Arable’s desk is covered with about a million old papers and magazines.

The figure of speech in the above sentence is

a simile.

a hyperbole.

personification.

an idiom.

3.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Falling snow slowly wrapped the whole neighborhood in a blanket of white.

This sentence contains an example of

a simile.

a metaphor.

an idiom.

personification.

4.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

It was so cold that if you spit, the slob would be an ice cube before it hit the ground. It was about a zillion degrees below zero. (The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis)

Which of the following phrases from the passage is a hyperbole?

a zillion degrees below zero

if you spit

hit the ground

It was so cold

5.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

The wind was as loud as a freight train roaring past the windows.

Which phrase, if substituted for the underlined simile in the sentence, would change it to a metaphor?

quickly

a loud freight train

blowing like a freight train

like a monster

6.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Hazardous driving conditions threw cold water on our week-end plans.

Threw cold water on is

a simile

a metaphor

a hyperbole

an idiom

7.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

A pot of soup sat on the stove top bubbling and steaming __________.

Which of the following phrases can be placed in the blank above so that the sentence illustrates the use of a simile?

loudly

like a small volcano

out of the pot and down the sides

for several hours

8.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Uncle Otis is a Scrooge about sharing his stash of chocolate covered cherries.

According to the metaphor above, Uncle Otis

doesn’t like candy.

gives most of his candy away.

will share with a few chosen people.

is stingy about sharing his supply of candy.

9.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Smiling politely and introducing yourself is a good way to break the ice in a room full of strangers.

Which phrase could be substituted for the idiom break the ice in the above sentence without changing its meaning?

get attention

get over being shy

make a lot of new friends

fool people

10.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Five hundred jigsaw puzzle pieces fell to the floor like a blizzard.

The figure of speech in the above sentence is

an idiom.

a metaphor.

a hyperbole.

a simile.

11.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

All bundled up in his ski gear, Mason was -

Choose the metaphor that will correctly complete the sentence.

uncomfortable and hot.

a big, round walking parade balloon.

barely able to move.

as big as a gorilla.

12.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Tyler always puts his desk in apple pie order after he finishes his homework.

The idiom in this sentence means that Tyler

eats apple pie after he finishes his homework.

stacks things up on his desk like the layers of a pie.

organizes his desk rather than leaving it messy.

leaves his homework on top of anything that might be on his desk.

13.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Icy twigs sparkled like diamonds in the morning sun.

The simile in this sentence compares

the morning sun to diamonds.

diamonds to sparkle.

ice to the morning sun.

icy twigs to diamonds.

14.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Mom’s New Year’s resolution to read more and watch TV less lasted about two seconds.

Which phrase is the hyperbole?

New Year’s resolution

about two seconds

to read more

watch TV less

15.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

War is a poor chisel for carving out peaceful tomorrows. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Dr. King’s statement about war is an example of

a hyperbole

an idiom

a simile

a metaphor

16.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

The sheet of bubble wrap went off like a string of firecrackers when I tried to stuff it in the trashcan.

The simile in this sentence indicates that the bubble wrap

made popping and cracking noises.

did not fit into the trashcan.

was not safe to handle.

caught fire.

17.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Tops of half-buried cars __________ out from under the snow.

Which of the following words can be placed in the blank to create personification?

protruded

stuck

popped

peeped

18.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Bradley was a bouncing football traveling down the hill beside his sled.

Bradley’s unusual trip down a snowy hill is presented in the sentence as

a simile.

a metaphor.

personification.

a hyperbole.

19.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Sleet whispered in the air before it fell to the rooftops and streets below.

Which of the following word groups from the sentence is personification?

fell to the rooftops

in the air

Sleet whispered

in the air before it fell

20.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Well bless my soul

What’s wrong with me? I’m itching like a man on a fuzzy tree. My friends say I’m actin’ wild as a bug.

I’m in love.

I'm all shook up.

_{from All Shook Up Words and Music by Otis Blackwell. Recorded by Elvis Presley 1956.}

In the partial lyrics above, Otis Blackwell included two

similes

hyperboles

idioms

metaphors

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