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English Quiz - Onomatopoeia (Questions)

Time for a cool KS2 English picture quiz, testing your onomatopoeia skills! Onomatopoeia are words that sound like the things they name. Clatter, clash, rattle, bang! English has awesome words for different sounds. When you read 'buzz', you can almost hear the bee. 'Onomatopoeia' is the special name for words that make sound effects.

Adding these cool words to your writing helps readers imagine scenes and makes stories super fun. Ready to spot onomatopoeia in this English quiz? Let's go!

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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
2. 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
3. Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The crisp leaves crunched underfoot as we ran through the park.
[ ] leaves
[ ] crunched
[ ] underfoot
[ ] park
4. Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The balloon burst with a loud pop.
[ ] balloon
[ ] with
[ ] loud
[ ] pop
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
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. 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 find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - What is onomatopoeia?

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English Quiz - Onomatopoeia (Answers)
1. Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
She dropped the shoe to the floor with a satisfying thud.
[ ] dropped
[ ] floor
[ ] satisfying
[x] thud
'Thud' is the sound the shoe makes when it hits the floor.
2. 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.
[x] tinkle
[ ] ice
[ ] glass
[ ] thirsty
We can almost hear the 'tinkle of ice'. Would the phrase 'clink of ice' sound the same?
3. Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The crisp leaves crunched underfoot as we ran through the park.
[ ] leaves
[x] crunched
[ ] underfoot
[ ] park
Using the word 'crunched' helps us to imagine the sound of the leaves.
4. Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The balloon burst with a loud pop.
[ ] balloon
[ ] with
[ ] loud
[x] pop
That's the sound the balloon makes when it bursts.
5. Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
Slam! All of a sudden, the wind whooshed through the house.
[ ] Slam, sudden
[x] Slam, whooshed
[ ] sudden, whooshed
[ ] whooshed, house
Here are two examples of onomatopoeia!
6. 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
[x] trickle, gushing
[ ] gushing, waterfall
'Trickle' and 'gushing' give you two contrasting impressions of the sound of the water leaking from the pipe.
7. 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
[x] murmuring, whispering
Many people hear strange sounds when they have a fever.
8. 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
[x] snip, slithered
[ ] scissors, floor
'Slithered' sounds so much better than 'dropped' or 'fell'.
9. 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
[x] 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.
10. Find the examples of onomatopoeia in the following sentence.
The mud squelched as it squished between my toes.
[ ] mud, squished
[x] squelched, squished
[ ] squished, between
[ ] squelched, toes
You can almost hear it as you read this sentence.