What does clearance mean?
Word: Clearance
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Clearance means the act of clearing away things that are no longer wanted from a place. It can also mean the amount of space left between two things so that they do not touch.
How do you spell clearance?
Syllables: clear - ance
Tricky part: The ending is ance, not ence. Clearence is the slip most people make, because both endings sound the same.
Watch out for: clearence, clearanse
Memory tip: After a clearance a room is A Nice Clean Empty space: the first letters of those words give you the ending.
Clearance in a sentence
Example 1: Mum and I did a big clearance of my cupboard and gave my outgrown clothes to my cousin.
Example 2: The workers finished the clearance of the plot, and now a garden can be planted there.
Example 3: After the clearance, our school library had room for two new shelves.
Fun Fact
Clearance has a football meaning too: a clearance is a kick that sends the ball away from your own goal.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) guidance
b) balance
c) entrance
d) cleerance
Show answer
d) cleerance. The first part keeps the ea of clear; guidance, balance and entrance are all spelt correctly.
Spellacadabra
From which option does a letter need to be removed to make a meaningful word?
a) kitchen
b) freedom
c) distance
d) clearrance
Show answer
d) clearrance. This word has a single r; distance, freedom and kitchen are fine as they are.
Word Champ
Which of the words cannot be made using the letters in the given word?
clearance
a) crane
b) cradle
c) cancel
d) clean
Show answer
b) cradle. Cradle needs a d, which the given word does not have.
Jumble Tumble
What is the meaning of the word that can be formed from the given letters?
nacelraec
a) a short stay in a place while travelling
b) the job of taking away everything nobody needs
c) a feeling of being sure that something is true
d) a careful look to check that something is right
Show answer
b) the job of taking away everything nobody needs. Two a's, two c's and two e's go into this one word, used when a place is emptied of unwanted things.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A sign near a low bridge gives the clearance as 4 metres. What does the number tell drivers?
a) how fast they may drive across
b) how long the bridge is
c) how far it is to the next town
d) how much room there is under the bridge
Show answer
d) how much room there is under the bridge
2. Which word is closest in meaning to clearance in 'a clearance of the attic'?
a) building
b) painting
c) locking
d) emptying
Show answer
d) emptying
