Skip to content
LessonPrint

Inside or Outside the Quotation Marks? is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on where each punctuation mark goes around a quotation in US style, aligned to Common Core standard L.5.2. 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 17 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next set

One paper per student

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

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

Inside or Outside the Quotation Marks?

L.5.2

NameDate

Circle the right answer.

1.The words "Look out" are followed by "shouted Sam" and the sentence ends. What goes after Sam?
  • A.An exclamation point
  • B.A period
  • C.A comma
2.Mia said, "The bus is here" — the sentence ends after here. Where does the period go?
  • A.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • B.Inside the closing quotation mark
  • C.After the word said
3.Grandma's words are Where are my keys, and "asked Grandma" comes after them. What goes after keys?
  • A.A question mark after Grandma
  • B.A comma inside the closing quotation mark
  • C.A question mark inside the closing quotation mark
4.Dad said "soon"; we waited an hour. Where does the semicolon go?
  • A.Before the word soon
  • B.Inside the closing quotation mark
  • C.Outside the closing quotation mark
5.Did the coach say "two more laps" — the whole sentence is a question, but the coach's words are not. Where does the question mark go?
  • A.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • B.Before the opening quotation mark
  • C.Inside the closing quotation mark
6.Ava's words are We won, and "said Ava" comes after them. Where does the comma after won go?
  • A.There is no comma
  • B.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • C.Inside the closing quotation mark
7."Stop" yelled Jo — Jo's word is shouted. Where does the exclamation point go?
  • A.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • B.At the very end, after Jo
  • C.Inside the closing quotation mark
8.In Lena whispered, "The baby is asleep," which mark comes straight after whispered?
  • A.No mark at all
  • B.A period
  • C.A comma

LessonPrint · L.5.2 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Inside or Outside the Quotation Marks?

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.A period
  2. 2.Inside the closing quotation mark
  3. 3.A question mark inside the closing quotation mark
  4. 4.Outside the closing quotation mark
  5. 5.Outside the closing quotation mark
  6. 6.Inside the closing quotation mark
  7. 7.Inside the closing quotation mark
  8. 8.A comma

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to L.5.2 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.