What does cheap mean?
Word: Cheap
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Cheap means costing only a little money.
Synonyms: inexpensive
Antonyms: expensive
Sounds like: cheep (the small, high sound a baby bird makes)
How do you spell cheap?
Syllables: cheap
Tricky part: The long e sound is spelt ea. Cheep, with two e's, is a different word: the sound a baby bird makes.
Watch out for: chepe, chaip
Memory tip: Cheap has the same ea as eat and meal: a cheap meal. The baby bird's cheep has only e's, like its tiny peep.
Idioms and Phrases
- cheap and cheerful: Simple and not costly, but still good. Example: "The stall at the fair sells cheap and cheerful toys."
Cheap in a sentence
Example 1: Bus rides in our town are cheap.
Example 2: Mangoes get cheap at the peak of summer.
Example 3: We bought cheap balloons at the fair.
Fun Fact
Cheap comes from an Old English word for buying and selling. A London street called Cheapside was once a busy market.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
cheap
a) small
b) costly
c) low-priced
d) plain
Show answer
b) costly. Something cheap costs a little; something costly costs a lot.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) pocket
b) cheapp
c) money
d) market
Show answer
b) cheapp. Cheap ends with a single p.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct letter to form a word:
c_eap
a) l
b) s
c) h
d) r
Show answer
c) h. Without the h there is no ch sound at the start.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Pencils are cheap at the shop near our scool.
a) Pencils
b) scool
c) cheap
d) shop
Show answer
b) scool. School has an h after the c.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which one usually costs the least?
a) a fridge
b) a television
c) a pencil
d) a bicycle
Show answer
c) a pencil
2. Which sentence uses cheap the right way?
a) The cheap little bird sang in its nest.
b) The bag was too cheap for me to lift.
c) This ice cream is cheap; it costs ten rupees.
d) My cheap friend lives in the next lane.
Show answer
c) This ice cream is cheap; it costs ten rupees.
