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Common Core ELA5th GradeReading: Literature

RL.5.4: Word Meaning and Figurative Language

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 43 5th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Reading: Literature · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RL.5.4 Means in Plain English

Fifth graders work out what words and phrases mean in the story in front of them, not just in the dictionary. That includes similes and metaphors: in “the garden was a jungle that had swallowed the fence,” nothing is a real jungle, so they explain what the comparison shows.

In 4th grade (RL.4.4) the focus was words that allude to myths, like Herculean. Fifth grade names similes and metaphors outright. In 6th grade (RL.6.4) students weigh connotation too, and explain how a single word choice sets the tone of a passage.

RL.5.4 I Can Statements

  • I can tell a simile from a metaphor in a story.
  • I can explain what a figurative phrase means in the story.
  • I can use the nearby sentences to work out what a word means.

RL.5.4 Worked Example

A paragraph with a metaphor, a simile and an ordinary word doing unusual work. The question takes the metaphor.

Read the Story
By the last week of August, the garden was a jungle that had swallowed the fence.Zucchini lay under the leaves like sleeping alligators, fat and green and half hidden.Mom stood at the gate with one small bucket. “Well,” she said, “somebody was busy while we were away.”Ella grinned. Somebody, she knew, meant the rain.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What does “the garden was a jungle that had swallowed the fence” mean, and what does it tell you?
Not Yet“It means there is a jungle in the garden with wild animals in it.”It reads the metaphor literally. Nothing in the garden is a real jungle, and the answer never asks what a garden and a jungle have in common.
Meets the Standard“It’s a metaphor. The garden isn’t a real jungle, but it grew so thick and wild that the plants covered the fence completely. It tells you the family was away a long time and nobody cut anything back, which is why Mom’s ‘one small bucket’ is funny.”It names the figure of speech, says what is being compared, and explains what the comparison shows in this story, even linking it to another detail.
Question Stems to Use
What two things are being compared?Is it a simile, with like or as, or a metaphor?What do the two things have in common?What does that comparison tell you about this place or character?What plain words could replace the phrase without changing the meaning?

Common Mistakes with RL.5.4

Reading the figure literally

“There are alligators in the garden.”

Try this: Ask “Could this really happen?” first. If not, have students name the two things compared and one thing they share.

Naming it and stopping

“It’s a metaphor.”

Try this: Require a second sentence saying what the comparison shows about the place, character or event in this particular story.

Using the first meaning they know

“Somebody means a person, so a neighbor did the gardening.”

Try this: Have students reread the sentences around the word and swap their meaning in. If the sentence breaks, the meaning is wrong.

Where RL.5.4 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.4.4Work out words and phrases, including ones that allude to mythology, like Herculean.
AlongsideL.5.5Interpret similes, metaphors, idioms and proverbs in any text.L.5.4Use context, roots and a dictionary to pin down unknown words.
Comes NextRL.6.4Add connotation, and explain how one word choice shapes meaning and tone.

Practice RL.5.4

Quick Check

  1. Find the simile in the passage.
  2. Is “the garden was a jungle” a simile or a metaphor? How do you know?
  3. Who is the “somebody” Mom says was busy?

RL.5.4: Other Names

RL.5.4CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.4

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.