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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.

Set 4 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Paraphrase What You Heard

SL.4.2

NameDate

Circle the right answer.

1.A speaker says: "Please keep the lab door shut, or the mice may escape." Which is the best paraphrase?
  • A.Leave the door open for the mice.
  • B.Shut the door so the mice cannot get out.
  • C.The mice have already escaped.
2.A speaker says: "Fleming spotted the mold by luck, but it took others years to make it useful." Which is the best paraphrase?
  • A.The find was lucky, but others worked for years to make a medicine.
  • B.Fleming made the medicine by himself.
  • C.Nobody ever used the mold.
3.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.We should wait for the traffic to get worse.
  • C.There is no traffic today.
4.A speaker says: "Our class collected more cans this semester than in the whole of last year." Which is the best paraphrase?
  • A.We collected more cans in one semester than all last year.
  • B.Last year we collected no cans.
  • C.We collected fewer cans this semester.
5.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 wolves ate all the elk.
  • C.The elk ate the wolves' food.
6.A speaker says: "Coral is not a plant; it is made of tiny animals." Which is the best paraphrase?
  • A.Coral is a kind of seaweed.
  • B.Coral is made only of rock.
  • C.Coral is really animals, not a plant.
7.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.You cannot visit on Monday, but you can stay late on Friday.
  • C.The museum closes early on Friday.
8.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.It never rains for three months.
  • C.Most of the year's rain comes in a short season.

LessonPrint · SL.4.2 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Paraphrase What You Heard

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Shut the door so the mice cannot get out.
  2. 2.The find was lucky, but others worked for years to make a medicine.
  3. 3.Leaving now means we avoid most of the traffic.
  4. 4.We collected more cans in one semester than all last year.
  5. 5.The wolves changed where elk fed, not only how many there were.
  6. 6.Coral is really animals, not a plant.
  7. 7.You cannot visit on Monday, but you can stay late on Friday.
  8. 8.Most of the year's rain comes in a short season.

More practice for SL.4.2

Put part of what you heard or saw into your own words.

Teaching this next? Paraphrasing What You Heard is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 4 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to SL.4.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.