Free Figurative Language MCQs with Answers

1. In the sentence "Time is a thief that steals our youth", the figure of speech used is

• A. simile
• B. metaphor
• C. hyperbole
• D. onomatopoeia

Explanation: Time is stated to be a thief rather than merely like one, and a direct comparison without like or as is a metaphor. Adding like would make it a simile. It also personifies time, so metaphor and personification often overlap in the same phrase.

2. In the sentence "He was as brave as a lion", the figure of speech is

• A. metaphor
• B. simile
• C. irony
• D. alliteration

Explanation: The comparison is made explicit with as, which is the defining mark of a simile along with like. Removing the as and writing he was a lion would turn it into a metaphor. Recognising the signal word is enough to answer this class of question.

3. In the sentence "I have told you a million times", the figure of speech is

• A. hyperbole
• B. understatement
• C. metaphor
• D. paradox

Explanation: Hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration for effect and is not meant to be believed literally. Its opposite is understatement, as in saying a serious injury is just a scratch. Both are rhetorical devices for emphasis rather than statements of fact.

4. The phrase "the pen is mightier than the sword" uses which figure of speech, where an object stands for the wider idea it represents?

• A. metonymy
• B. simile
• C. oxymoron
• D. alliteration

Explanation: The pen stands for writing and persuasion, and the sword for military force, so each object represents the larger institution associated with it, which is metonymy. An oxymoron combines contradictory terms, as in deafening silence. Alliteration concerns repeated initial sounds rather than meaning.

5. In the sentence "The silence in the examination hall was deafening", the figure of speech is

• A. oxymoron
• B. simile
• C. metonymy
• D. hyperbole

Explanation: Deafening silence places two contradictory ideas side by side, which is the definition of an oxymoron, as in bittersweet or living dead. A paradox is the related device applied to a whole statement rather than a phrase. The contradiction is deliberate and creates the effect.

6. Commencement of words with the same letter:

• A. Pun
• B. Alliteration
• C. Transferred epithet
• D. Oxymoron

Explanation: Alliteration is the repetition of the same initial sound or letter in nearby words, as in “wild and windy.” A pun depends on wordplay, while an oxymoron joins contradictory terms.