Onomatopoeia
When you read the word 'buzz', you can hear the sound of the bee.

Onomatopoeia

This KS2 English picture quiz will test you on onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is words that sound like the objects they name. Clatter, clash, rattle, bang! The English language is full of wonderful words which can be used for different sounds. When you read the word 'buzz', you can hear the sound of the bee. 'Onomatopoeia' is the name for words which create these sound effects.

Adding onomatopoeic words to your writing helps with visualising a scene for the reader, as well as making the story more enjoyable and interesting.

See if you can recognise the use of onomatopoeia in this English quiz.

To see a larger image, click on the picture.
1.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
She dropped the shoe to the floor with a satisfying thud.
dropped
floor
satisfying
thud
'Thud' is the sound the shoe makes when it hits the floor.
2.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The crisp leaves crunched underfoot as we ran through the park.
leaves
crunched
underfoot
park
Using the word 'crunched' helps us to imagine the sound of the leaves.
3.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The balloon burst with a loud pop.
balloon
with
loud
pop
That's the sound the balloon makes when it bursts.
4.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
Hearing the unexpected tinkle of ice in a glass made him suddenly realise he was thirsty.
tinkle
ice
glass
thirsty
We can almost hear the 'tinkle of ice'. Would the phrase 'clink of ice' sound the same?
5.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
Slam! All of a sudden, the wind whooshed through the house.
Slam, sudden
Slam, whooshed
sudden, whooshed
whooshed, house
Here are two examples of onomatopoeia!
6.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The mud squelched as it squished between my toes.
mud, squished
squelched, squished
squished, between
squelched, toes
You can almost hear it as you read this sentence.
7.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
She heard the snip of the scissors and then her long-treasured hair slithered to the floor.
snip, long-treasured
scissors, hair
snip, slithered
scissors, floor
'Slithered' sounds so much better than 'dropped' or 'fell'.
8.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
When she was ill, she thought she could hear murmuring and whispering coming from the room next door.
ill, thought
she, whispering
thought, murmuring
murmuring, whispering
Many people hear strange sounds when they have a fever.
9.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
Overnight, the tiny trickle from the leaking pipe had become a gushing waterfall.
Overnight, leaking
trickle, leaking
trickle, gushing
gushing, waterfall
'Trickle' and 'gushing' give you two contrasting impressions of the sound of the water leaking from the pipe.
10.
Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The lorries continued down the road with a rumble and a roar.
lorries, continued
down, road
road, roar
rumble, roar
The words 'rumble' and 'roar' give a good impression of the sounds lorries make. Compare this to motorbikes 'zooming'. When using onomatopoeia, choose your words carefully to create the effect you want.
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - What is onomatopoeia?

Author:  Sheri Smith

© Copyright 2016-2023 - Education Quizzes
Work Innovate Ltd - Design | Development | Marketing

Valid HTML5

We use cookies to make your experience of our website better.

To comply with the new e-Privacy directive, we need to ask for your consent - I agree - No thanks - Find out more