Vocabulary Worksheet · Grades 4–6
Personification Worksheet
A printable vocabulary worksheet for grades 4-6 that builds the skill of spotting personification – human traits given to non-human things. Students identify what is being personified in 8 sentences in Section A and interpret 6 personification sentences in Section B. A complete answer key is included.
Subject
Vocabulary
Grades
Grades 4–6
Skill Focus
Personification, figurative language
Lesson Length
15 minutes
Lesson Overview
About this worksheet
PERSONIFICATION is a kind of figurative language that gives human traits to things that are not human. The wind whispers. Tulips bow their heads. A river sings. These are not literally true – winds do not have mouths and rivers do not have voices – but the human action paints a picture in the reader’s mind. Spotting personification helps students notice descriptive writing and read between the lines for tone and feeling.
Section A gives students 8 sentences with personification and asks what non-human thing is being personified. The set covers natural objects (thunder, sunlight, river), household items (radio, alarm clock), and even cookies. Each item gives the student a chance to notice the human verb (grumbled, kissed, coughed, danced, screamed, sang, bowed, called) and name the non-human subject doing it.
Section B raises the difficulty: students read 6 personification sentences (leaves rustled and whispered, phone died, empty house stared, lightning leaped, hunger gnawed, smoke alarm shrieked) and write what each sentence really means in plain words. The reference box at the top of page 1 defines personification and walks through one example (‘The wind whispered through the trees’). Page 2 is a complete answer key in compact format.
How to Use This Lesson
Read the reference box aloud and circle the human verb in the example (‘whispered’). Then ask students: what is whispering? – the wind. Show the pattern: human action + non-human subject.
Work Section A independently; remind students to find the human verb first, then write the non-human subject doing it.
For Section B, model item 9 (‘leaves rustled and whispered’) aloud: leaves cannot really whisper, so the real meaning is that the leaves moved softly and made a quiet sound – ‘leaves rustled softly’.
Use the answer key on page 2 for self-check or aide spot-check.
Pair with the Types of Figurative Language Worksheet for the broader umbrella, or the Similes and Metaphors Worksheet and Hyperbole Worksheet for the other two common types.
Printable Resource
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Personification Worksheet
A printable vocabulary worksheet for grades 4-6 that builds the skill of spotting personification – human traits given to non-human things. Students identify what is being personified in 8 sentences in Section A and interpret 6 personification sentences in Section B. A complete answer key is included.
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