Figurative Language in a Text is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on explaining a metaphor or simile as it is used here, aligned to Common Core standard RL.5.4. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions, 21 of them with different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
21 of these 25 sets ask different questions — this skill does not have 25 questions to give. The rest reorder them, so no two pupils have the same paper in front of them.
Figurative Language in a Text
RL.5.4
NameDate
Read the text, then answer the questions.
1.Read the text, then answer the questions.
What We Kept
Stanza one:
We kept the table, which was too big,
and the clock, which had never gone,
and a tin of buttons nobody wanted,
and the habit of turning lights off.
Stanza two:
We gave away the good chairs.
We gave away the china, all of it.
We gave away the piano to a school
because none of us could play.
Stanza three:
Ten years on, I would not know the chairs
if I saw them in a window on a street.
But I turn the hall light off behind me
every single time, and think of her.
1. "The clock, which had never gone" — what does this tell you about why it was kept?
2. What does the hall light stand for by the end of the poem?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
The Bell
Stanza one:
The church has gone. They took the stone
for walls and gateposts, load by load.
Where the aisle was there is a field.
Where the door was there is a road.
Stanza two:
The bell they could not sell or break.
It hung in a barn for eighty years,
green with the damp, out of the way,
mute as a stone among the gears.
Stanza three:
Last spring they hung it in the school.
It rings at nine and rings at three.
The children do not know its age
and ring it anyway, and it is free.
Stanza four:
So the building went, and the faith went,
and the road runs where the door was cut,
and still the sound the masons heard
goes out at nine, and comes back, and stops.
1. "The faith went" — what does this mean, and how is it different from "the building went"?
2. "Mute as a stone among the gears" — what is being compared, and why does it work?
LessonPrint · RL.5.4 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Figurative Language in a Text
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. It was kept for reasons that had nothing to do with usefulness. 2. The person who taught the habit — turning it off is how the speaker remembers her.
2.1. The building went by demolition and the faith went by change of belief; the poem sets the two losses side by side. 2. The silent bell is compared to a stone — and the church's own stone was carted away, which ties the images together.
Questions about Figurative Language in a Text
What does the Figurative Language in a Text worksheet cover?
It practises explaining a metaphor or simile as it is used here — 2 questions for Grade 5, all on Common Core RL.5.4: Work out what words mean here, including metaphors and similes. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does Figurative Language in a Text practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4 — RL.5.4, in the Reading: Literature domain for Grade 5. The published standard reads: “Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Figurative Language in a Text is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on RL.5.4, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Figurative Language in a Text come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Figurative Language in a Text can I print?
25 versions, of which 21 ask genuinely different questions — this skill does not have 25 distinct questions to give, so the rest reorder them and no two pupils still share a paper. Set 1 downloads all 25 as one PDF.
Is Figurative Language in a Text free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Figurative Language in a Text, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
Is there a lesson plan to teach RL.5.4?
Yes — “Figurative Language and Connotation” is a 40-minute Grade 5 plan for RL.5.4, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Figurative Language in a Text is the practice that follows it.
More practice for RL.5.4
Work out what words mean here, including metaphors and similes.