Home / English / Printables / Grade 4 / Paraphrase What You Heard Paraphrase What You Heard is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on choosing the paraphrase that keeps what a speaker meant, aligned to Common Core standard SL.4.2. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
One paper per student
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.
Paraphrase What You Heard SL.4.2
Name Date
Circle the right answer.
1. A speaker says: "Bees carry pollen between flowers, and without them many fruits would never form." Which is the best paraphrase?
A. Flowers grow fruit without any help. B. Many fruits only grow because bees move pollen. C. Bees make fruit taste sweet. 2. A speaker says: "Wolves did not just eat elk; they changed where the elk chose to graze." Which is the best paraphrase?
A. The wolves changed where elk fed, not only how many there were. B. The elk ate the wolves' food. C. The wolves ate all the elk. 3. A speaker says: "The museum is closed on Mondays but open late on Fridays." Which is the best paraphrase?
A. The museum is open every day. B. The museum closes early on Friday. C. You cannot visit on Monday, but you can stay late on Friday. 4. A speaker says: "If we leave now, we will miss the worst of the traffic." Which is the best paraphrase?
A. Leaving now means we avoid most of the traffic. B. There is no traffic today. C. We should wait for the traffic to get worse. 5. A speaker says: "Most of the rain falls in just three months of the year." Which is the best paraphrase?
A. It rains the same amount all year. B. Most of the year's rain comes in a short season. C. It never rains for three months. 6. A speaker says: "Fleming spotted the mold by luck, but it took others years to make it useful." Which is the best paraphrase?
A. Fleming made the medicine by himself. B. The find was lucky, but others worked for years to make a medicine. C. Nobody ever used the mold. 7. A speaker says: "Our class collected more cans this semester than in the whole of last year." Which is the best paraphrase?
A. Last year we collected no cans. B. We collected more cans in one semester than all last year. C. We collected fewer cans this semester. 8. A speaker says: "Coral is not a plant; it is made of tiny animals." Which is the best paraphrase?
A. Coral is made only of rock. B. Coral is really animals, not a plant. C. Coral is a kind of seaweed. LessonPrint · SL.4.2 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Paraphrase What You Heard Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.
1. Many fruits only grow because bees move pollen. 2. The wolves changed where elk fed, not only how many there were. 3. You cannot visit on Monday, but you can stay late on Friday. 4. Leaving now means we avoid most of the traffic. 5. Most of the year's rain comes in a short season. 6. The find was lucky, but others worked for years to make a medicine. 7. We collected more cans in one semester than all last year. 8. Coral is really animals, not a plant. Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to SL.4.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.