Idioms and Their Meanings

Read each sentence aloud and ask what picture it puts in your head, then what it really means. Point out figurative language in a bedtime book after each page. Check answers with the key.

Match common idioms, like raining cats and dogs, to what they really mean. An idiom is a group of words that means something different from what each word says. The directions on the page read: Read each sentence. Then, write the letter of the idiom's meaning in the box. The page opens with a worked example, and the answer key shows every answer.

Yes, both. We made it for 4th Grade figurative language, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

CCSS L.4.5.A covers explaining simple similes and metaphors, and L.4.5.B covers common idioms, adages and proverbs. Many 4th grade classes also teach personification and hyperbole because they show up constantly in stories and poems.

A simile compares two things using like or as (Mia ran like the wind). A metaphor says one thing is another (The classroom was a zoo). Both compare, but only the simile uses a signal word.

Hyperbole is an exaggeration nobody is meant to believe, like I could eat a horse. Ask your child what the speaker really means: they are very hungry. The hyperbole sheet asks for exactly that.

Yes. Each figurative language sheet has an answer key, with sample answers for the explain-it questions.