What Does It Really Mean?
Each sentence uses personification or hyperbole. Circle what the sentence really means.
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This is sheet #186524601.
How to do it
- Read the sentence.
- Think about what it really means.
- Circle the meaning.
Teaching tip
Talk about why the silly literal choice can't be right. This sheet is aligned with Common Core L.5.5.
About this worksheet
Sentences with personification or hyperbole, each with three meanings to choose from, like "The backpack is very heavy" for "This backpack weighs a ton." Fewer, Standard or More give 5, 6 or 7. Includes an answer key.
What kids practice
In 4th grade, students learned similes, metaphors, idioms and proverbs. This topic adds four more kinds of figurative language: personification (giving human actions to things), hyperbole (big exaggeration), alliteration (repeating first sounds) and onomatopoeia (sound words). Students also look at how words relate: synonyms, antonyms, and homographs, which are spelled the same but mean different things, like the wind and wind the string.
Watch for
- Taking a hyperbole literally, like thinking a backpack really weighs a ton.
- Calling any sentence about a thing personification, even when the thing does something it really can do.
- Counting words that only share a letter, not a sound, as alliteration.
- Choosing a homograph's meaning without reading the rest of the sentence.
It's free to print, with Fewer, Standard or More on the page and an answer key. See the full figurative language guide for 5th grade.
More sheets in this set
- See it all
1. Figurative Language ChartPersonification, hyperbole, alliteration and onomatopoeia, plus similes and metaphors as a reminder, each with what it is and an example, and synonyms, antonyms and homographs. 
2. Name the Figure of SpeechSentences using personification, hyperbole, alliteration or onomatopoeia, with the four choices to circle. Fewer, Standard or More give 6, 8 or 10. Includes an answer key.
4. Find It in the StoryThree short original stories, each with personification, hyperbole, alliteration, onomatopoeia, a simile and a metaphor to find. New sheet gives a different story. Includes an answer key.
5. Write Your OwnPrompts like "Exaggerate how tired you are" to answer with a sentence of your own. Fewer gives the four new kinds, Standard adds a simile and a metaphor, and More adds two extra prompts. The answer key shows sample sentences.
6. Synonym or Antonym?Pairs of fifth-grade words like furious and irate or generous and stingy, to mark as synonyms or antonyms. Fewer, Standard or More give 8, 10 or 12 pairs. Includes an answer key.
7. HomographsHomographs like wind, tear and present, each with two meanings and two sentences to match. Fewer, Standard or More give 4, 5 or 6 words. Includes an answer key.