Hyperbole, puns, oxymorons and sound words

Grade 6 Reading Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Sentence

   After the field trip, the backpack weighed a million pounds.
   Figure card: Hyperbole stretches the truth on purpose. An oxymoron puts two opposite words together. Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like its noise. A pun plays on a word with two meanings.

2. 1.

   Tala reads the sentence and the figure card. Which choice names the figure and tells why?

   • pun: “pounds” can mean weight or money, so the sentence is a joke
   • onomatopoeia: “weighed” sounds like a heavy thud
   • hyperbole: no backpack weighs a million pounds
   • oxymoron: a backpack is small, but “million” is a huge number

3. Sentence

   The art table was an organized mess.
   Figure card: Hyperbole stretches the truth on purpose. An oxymoron puts two opposite words together. Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like its noise. A pun plays on a word with two meanings.

4. 2.

   Bo reads the sentence and the figure card. Which choice names the figure and tells why?

   • oxymoron: “organized” and “mess” are opposite words side by side
   • hyperbole: the table is messier than any table could be
   • onomatopoeia: “mess” sounds like the noise of spilled paint
   • pun: “mess” can mean a dirty place or a meal hall, so it is a joke

5. Sentence

   The bell went ding at the end of class.
   Figure card: Hyperbole stretches the truth on purpose. An oxymoron puts two opposite words together. Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like its noise. A pun plays on a word with two meanings.

6. 3.

   Milo reads the sentence and the figure card. Which choice names the figure and tells why?

   • onomatopoeia: “ding” sounds like the noise a bell makes
   • pun: “class” can mean a group of students or a style
   • oxymoron: a loud bell ends a quiet class
   • hyperbole: the bell was louder than any bell could be at the end of class

7. Sentence

   Why was the math book sad? It had too many problems.
   Figure card: Hyperbole stretches the truth on purpose. An oxymoron puts two opposite words together. Onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like its noise. A pun plays on a word with two meanings.

8. 4.

   Noah reads the sentence and the figure card. Which choice names the figure and tells why?

   • hyperbole: a book cannot have that many problems
   • onomatopoeia: “problems” sounds like a noise
   • pun: “problems” means math questions and also troubles
   • oxymoron: “sad” and “problems” are opposite words
9. 5.

   The line for the slide was a mile long. Esme reads the sentence. Which choice tells what it means in plain words?

   • the line was very long
   • the kids gave up and went home
   • the line really stretched for one mile
   • the slide was a popular ride at the park
10. 6.

    The class trip to the museum was a working vacation. Kira reads the sentence. Which choice tells what it means in plain words?

    • the trip was ruined by too much schoolwork
    • the trip was fun but also had some schoolwork
    • the museum paid the students to work for a week
    • the class went on a trip to the museum
11. 7.

    The soup pot went blub, blub, blub on the stove. Luz reads the sentence. Which choice tells what it means in plain words?

    • the pot was sitting on the stove
    • the soup was about to spill over the pot
    • the pot said the word blub out loud
    • the soup made a bubbling noise in the pot
12. 8.

    Why did the cloud stay home? It was under the weather. Pia reads the joke. Which choice tells what it means in plain words?

    • the cloud was too hurt to move
    • the cloud stayed home instead of going out
    • the cloud hid underneath a rainstorm
    • the cloud felt sick, and the words also fit a cloud in the weather
13. 9.

    Before lunch, the long math sheet on the desk had a thousand questions. Zee marks the clue. Which part of the sentence is the hyperbole?

    • the long math sheet
    • had a thousand questions
    • Before lunch
    • on the desk
14. 10.

    On a roll that morning, the bakery sold out of buns. Jun marks the clue. Which part of the sentence is the pun?

    • On a roll
    • that morning
    • the bakery
    • sold out of buns