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ELA 9

English Language Arts 9 · Worksheets

Words and figurative language

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Words and figures. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Words and figurative language

English Language Arts 9 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the evidence or reasoning that decided it.

  1. Read: “The prairie did not care that we were lost. It just kept going in every direction, flat and polite, offering us nothing.” The personification of the prairie mainly suggests that the land is

    1. a) hostile and trying to harm the travellers
    2. b) friendly and trying to guide the travellers
    3. c) beautiful and restful after a long trip
    4. d) indifferent to the people crossing it

  2. Read: “When the bus broke down for the third time that week, Mr. Tran looked at the steaming engine and said, ‘Well, this is going great.’” Mr. Tran means that

    1. a) he is glad the class will miss a test
    2. b) things are going badly and he is fed up
    3. c) he thinks the engine can be fixed quickly
    4. d) he is surprised that the bus broke down

  3. In a play, the audience watches Carla hide her brother's phone in the couch as a joke. In the next scene, her brother says to her, “You're the only one I trust. Help me find it before Mom gets home.” This is dramatic irony because

    1. a) Carla has lied to her brother about the phone
    2. b) the brother says the opposite of what he means
    3. c) the phone ends up somewhere nobody expected
    4. d) the audience knows something the brother does not

  4. Read: “The trail was so treacherous that even the guide, who had walked it for thirty years, tested each rock before trusting his weight to it.” In this sentence, “treacherous” most likely means

    1. a) crowded with hikers and hard to pass
    2. b) beautiful, with views in every direction
    3. c) long, steep and very tiring to walk
    4. d) dangerous and unpredictable underfoot

  5. Which sentence uses a metaphor?

    1. a) After the bell, students moved down the hallway like a river.
    2. b) After the bell, the hallway was extremely crowded.
    3. c) After the bell, backpacks bumped and banged along.
    4. d) After the bell, the hallway was a river of backpacks.

  6. Read: “My little brother is a hurricane. He blows in the door after school, flattens everything in the kitchen, and leaves a trail of wreckage — socks, crumbs, one shoe — all the way to the TV.” The extended metaphor mainly suggests that the brother

    1. a) is full of energy and leaves a mess wherever he goes
    2. b) is frightened of storms and hides in front of the TV
    3. c) is moody and changes like the weather from day to day
    4. d) is dangerous and likely to hurt someone in the house

  7. Read: “The old truck coughed twice, grumbled for a while, and finally agreed to start.” The personification suggests that the truck

    1. a) is new and has a powerful engine
    2. b) belongs to a grumpy, impatient owner
    3. c) is old and reluctant to start
    4. d) is about to be sold for scrap metal

  8. Read: “The city calls the change ‘streamlining the bus routes.’ Riders who waited forty minutes at a stop in January call it ‘cutting service.’” The two groups describe the same change differently mainly because

    1. a) they disagree about how many routes were changed
    2. b) each chooses words whose feeling supports its side
    3. c) “streamlining” is the more accurate description
    4. d) the riders do not understand how routes are planned

  9. A reviewer is describing a new building. Which word, used in place of “large,” gives the building the most negative connotation?

    1. a) roomy
    2. b) hulking
    3. c) grand
    4. d) spacious

  10. Read: “After her father moved out, Jana kept his old work boots by the back door and dusted them every Saturday. In the story's last scene, on the first warm day of spring, she carries them to the donation bin.” Giving the boots away most likely shows that Jana

    1. a) is angry that her father left his boots behind
    2. b) wants someone else to have warm boots for winter
    3. c) has noticed that the boots are too big for her
    4. d) has accepted that her father is not coming back

Answer key · Words and figurative language

English Language Arts 9 · maddyhelps.com

  1. d) indifferent to the people crossing it — “Did not care,” “polite” and “offering us nothing” describe something that neither helps nor attacks; it simply ignores them. “Hostile” is the tempting answer, but hostility would mean the land was working against them, and nothing here acts at all.
  2. b) things are going badly and he is fed up — This is verbal irony: he says the opposite of what he means. The steaming engine shows things are not going great, and a third breakdown in one week rules out surprise.
  3. d) the audience knows something the brother does not — Dramatic irony is a gap in knowledge: the audience saw Carla hide the phone, and her brother has no idea. He means exactly what he says, so it is not verbal irony, and Carla has not said a word yet; the irony comes from what the audience knows.
  4. d) dangerous and unpredictable underfoot — The clue is the guide: even after thirty years, he tests every rock before stepping on it. That points to danger underfoot; nothing in the sentence is about how long, pretty or busy the trail is.
  5. d) After the bell, the hallway was a river of backpacks. — A metaphor says one thing is another, without “like” or “as”: the hallway was a river. “Moved like a river” makes a similar comparison with “like,” so it is a simile, and “bumped and banged” is alliteration, not a comparison.
  6. a) is full of energy and leaves a mess wherever he goes — Each part of the storm — blowing in, flattening, wreckage — matches something the brother does. The wreckage turns out to be socks, crumbs and one shoe, which shows the exaggeration is affectionate; taking the hurricane literally leads to “dangerous.”
  7. c) is old and reluctant to start — Coughing, grumbling and agreeing are human actions, and together they make the truck sound like a tired old person who does not want to get up. The grumbling belongs to the truck, not to its owner.
  8. b) each chooses words whose feeling supports its side — Both phrases describe the same reduced routes. “Streamlining” suggests smooth efficiency and “cutting” suggests loss, so the difference is connotation, not facts. Deciding one phrase is simply accurate misses that both were chosen to make a case.
  9. b) hulking — All four mean big. “Hulking” adds heavy, clumsy and a little threatening, while “spacious” and “roomy” suggest comfort and “grand” suggests admiration. Connotation is the feeling a word carries on top of its dictionary meaning.
  10. d) has accepted that her father is not coming back — Keeping the boots ready by the door and dusting them week after week stands for waiting for her father, and giving them away stands for letting go. The practical readings ignore that pattern: a symbol builds its meaning through repetition, and here the meaning changes at the end.