What is the difference between a simile and the sentence practice on the idioms page?

An idiom's meaning has nothing to do with its literal words (raining cats and dogs means heavy rain, not falling animals). A simile's meaning is built directly from its literal comparison using like or as (busy as a bee genuinely does describe a bee's activity level). Idioms have to be learned as fixed phrases; similes can be built fresh by comparing almost anything to almost anything else.

How can my child get better at writing their own similes instead of just recognizing them?

Practice out loud before writing anything down: point at something ordinary and ask your child to finish it was as ___ as ___ or it moved like a ___. Encourage silly, vivid comparisons over safe, boring ones, since a simile's whole job is to make writing more vivid, and vivid beats accurate every time in this particular skill.

3rd Grade Idioms and Similes Worksheets

Ages 8-9 · 3 sub-topics · Free previews · Print-ready PDFs

These idioms and similes worksheets for third grade introduce figurative language, phrases whose meaning is not built literally from their individual words. Students match idioms like piece of cake or raining cats and dogs to their real meanings, then move to similes, comparisons using like or as, both identifying them in sentences and writing their own (L.3.5a). Figurative language is a genuinely new kind of reading and writing demand at this grade, since it asks students to hold a literal and a real meaning in mind at the same time.

Written by Adi Ackerman, Head Teacher

3rd Grade Vocabulary Idioms and Similes Clear All

Idioms and Similes▼

Idioms

Grade3rd Grade

TopicIdioms and Similes

Similes

Grade3rd Grade

TopicIdioms and Similes

Simile sentences

Grade3rd Grade

TopicIdioms and Similes

Frequently Asked Questions

Idioms are hard specifically for students who read literally, since piece of cake has nothing to do with dessert and it's raining cats and dogs describes weather, not animals. Kids who've heard an idiom used casually at home already have a head start; kids meeting it for the first time on a worksheet need the literal-versus-real-meaning gap explained explicitly rather than assumed.

More vocabulary worksheets

Explore all of our 3rd grade vocabulary worksheets, covering the meanings of words, sentences and paragraphs, homonyms, homophones and tricky words, word practice, and more.

The Meanings of Words Sentences and Paragraphs Homonyms, Homophones and Tricky Words Word Practice Affixes and Compound Words Synonyms and Antonyms Alphabetizing

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3rd Grade Idioms and Similes Worksheets

Idioms

Similes

Simile sentences

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are idioms hard for some third graders and easy for others?

What is the difference between a simile and the sentence practice on the idioms page?

How can my child get better at writing their own similes instead of just recognizing them?

More vocabulary worksheets

What is ClassWeekly?