What does bumblebee mean?
Word: Bumblebee
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Bumblebee means a large, round, hairy bee that makes a loud humming sound as it flies.
How do you spell bumblebee?
Syllables: bum - ble - bee
Tricky part: The middle part is -ble, with the l before the e, as in tumble. Children often swap the two letters and write bumbelbee.
Watch out for: bumbelbee, bumblbee
Memory tip: Think of a bee that tumbles about in the air as it flies: tumble and bumble end the same way, with l first and e after it.
Bumblebee in a sentence
Example 1: A fat bumblebee crawled slowly along the window sill.
Example 2: We heard the bumblebee buzzing long before we saw it.
Example 3: The bumblebee had yellow and black stripes on its furry body.
Fun Fact
Bumblebees can fly in cooler weather than many other bees, because they warm their bodies up by shivering their flight muscles.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Fusion
Add the correct option to the unfinished word to make a new word:
A bumble_______ landed on Riya's yellow hat during the school picnic.
a) be
b) bee
c) bie
d) bea
Show answer
b) bee. The last part is the insect bee, spelt with a double e.
Spell Spies
Choose the option with no spelling errors:
a) ant, beetel, bunblebee, moath
b) ant, beetal, bunblebee, moth
c) ant, beetle, bumblebee, moth
d) annt, beetle, bumblebee, mothe
Show answer
c) ant, beetle, bumblebee, moth. Only this list spells every insect right; the others slip with words such as bunblebee, beetel and annt.
Word Champ
Which of the words cannot be made using the letters in the given word?
bumblebee
a) bell
b) mule
c) blue
d) bee
Show answer
a) bell. Bell takes two l's, while bumblebee gives you just one.
Sound Check
Which of the following words has the 'u' sound as in bumblebee?
a) put
b) blue
c) cub
d) tune
Show answer
c) cub. Cub has the same short sound as bum; put, tune and blue each say their u differently.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Where are you most likely to see a bumblebee?
a) around garden flowers
b) at the bottom of a pond
c) deep inside a cave
d) high on an icy mountain
Show answer
a) around garden flowers
2. What does a bumblebee collect from flowers to feed its young?
a) bits of bark
b) grains of sand
c) pollen
d) tiny pebbles
Show answer
c) pollen
