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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 2 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.

Inside or Outside the Quotation Marks?

L.5.2

NameDate

Circle the right answer.

1.Dad said "soon"; we waited an hour. Where does the semicolon go?
  • A.Inside the closing quotation mark
  • B.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • C.Before the word soon
2."Stop" yelled Jo — Jo's word is shouted. Where does the exclamation point go?
  • A.At the very end, after Jo
  • B.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • C.Inside the closing quotation mark
3.A report calls the storm "the worst in fifty years." Why is there no comma before the quotation?
  • A.The quotation is a question
  • B.The quoted words fit into the writer's own sentence
  • C.Reports never use commas
4.Kai said that his mom told him to "wait here." Kai is quoted saying his mom's words. In US style, what goes around a quotation inside a quotation?
  • A.Double quotation marks
  • B.Single quotation marks
  • C.Parentheses
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.Inside the closing quotation mark
  • B.Before the opening quotation mark
  • C.Outside the closing quotation mark
6.In Lena whispered, "The baby is asleep," which mark comes straight after whispered?
  • A.A period
  • B.No mark at all
  • C.A comma
7.Mia said, "The bus is here" — the sentence ends after here. Where does the period go?
  • A.Outside the closing quotation mark
  • B.After the word said
  • C.Inside the closing quotation mark
8.Two characters are talking. What does the writer do each time a different character starts to speak?
  • A.Use smaller quotation marks
  • B.Start a new paragraph
  • C.Leave out the quotation marks

LessonPrint · L.5.2 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Inside or Outside the Quotation Marks?

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Outside the closing quotation mark
  2. 2.Inside the closing quotation mark
  3. 3.The quoted words fit into the writer's own sentence
  4. 4.Single quotation marks
  5. 5.Outside the closing quotation mark
  6. 6.A comma
  7. 7.Inside the closing quotation mark
  8. 8.Start a new paragraph

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