What does headquarters mean?
Word: Headquarters
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Headquarters means the main office or centre from which a company, army, police force or other organisation is controlled.
Synonyms: base, centre
How do you spell headquarters?
Syllables: head - quar - ters
Tricky part: Head keeps its ea, and the final s stays even when there is only one main office.
Watch out for: hedquarters, headquorters, headqarters
Memory tip: The head of a group works from here, and the word always keeps its final s, even for a single office.
Headquarters in a sentence
Example 1: The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee is in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Example 2: Our scout troop set up its headquarters in an old tent near the playground.
Example 3: The detective went back to headquarters to study the clues.
Fun Fact
Headquarters can take either a singular or a plural verb, so you may say the headquarters is in Berlin or the headquarters are in Berlin.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) milestoan
b) headmastor
c) headquarters
d) lighthause
Show answer
c) headquarters. Headmaster ends in er, lighthouse has ou and milestone ends in one, so only headquarters is right.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
headqua_t_rs
a) l, e
b) w, e
c) r, a
d) r, e
Show answer
d) r, e. Quarter has an r before the t, the same as in quarter past three.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word:
headquarters
a) outpost
b) branch
c) warehouse
d) head office
Show answer
d) head office. A company's head office is its headquarters; a branch is a smaller office.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) committee
b) headquarters
c) goverment
d) secretary
Show answer
c) goverment. Government keeps the n of govern before ment; committee, secretary and headquarters are spelt correctly.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In which city is the headquarters of the United Nations?
a) Tokyo
b) London
c) Paris
d) New York
Show answer
d) New York
2. A company's headquarters is the place where ____.
a) its goods are sold in shops
b) its workers buy food
c) the company is run from
d) its lorries are repaired
Show answer
c) the company is run from
