This special issue explores the use of metaphor in education from a multilingual perspective in two Scandinavian countries, Norway and Sweden. In this introduction, we include a brief overview of earlier research in the domain and identify common factors noteworthy to discuss in relation to the multilingual context, for instance, the notion of creativity and speaker legitimacy in a second language context. The issue includes six articles comprising multilingual school children, youth, university students, adult migrants, and indigenous minorities. Several of the articles focus on second language acquisition, use and assessment, while others deal more with social issues, including unequal power relations and prejudices that newcomers encounter in everyday life.