Exploring Similes
This worksheet helps 8th-grade students understand and identify similes, and practice using them in their own writing.
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Exploring Similes
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Read each section carefully and answer the questions to demonstrate your understanding of similes. A simile is a figure of speech comparing two different things using 'like' or 'as'.
Read the following passage and answer the questions below:
The old house stood on a hill, its windows like vacant eyes staring out at the stormy sea. The wind howled through the broken panes, a mournful cry as loud as a banshee's wail. Inside, dust lay thick on every surface, soft as velvet, yet it covered everything in a cloak of neglect. The floorboards groaned beneath my feet like an old ship in rough waters. Each step echoed, as sharp as a gunshot, through the empty halls. A chill, cold as ice, seeped into my bones, making me shiver uncontrollably. The silence was heavy, like a blanket woven from shadows and forgotten dreams.
1. Which of the following is NOT a simile from the passage?
windows like vacant eyes
a mournful cry as loud as a banshee's wail
dust lay thick on every surface
floorboards groaned beneath my feet like an old ship
Complete the following sentences by adding a simile. Be creative!
2. The new student was as quiet as a .
3. Her smile was like .
4. The athlete ran like a toward the finish line.
5. Explain the meaning and effect of the simile: 'The silence was heavy, like a blanket woven from shadows and forgotten dreams.'
6. A simile always uses the words 'and' or 'or' to make a comparison.
True
False
7. Similes are used to make writing more descriptive and imaginative.
True
False
8. Write three original sentences, each containing a different simile.