Spell Bee Word: Mildew

What does mildew mean?

Word: Mildew

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: Mildew means a thin white or grey fungus that grows on damp walls, plants, cloth or food.

How do you spell mildew?

Syllables: mil - dew

Tricky part: Pupils hear the ending and write it as ue or oo, when it is spelt ew.

Watch out for: mildue, mildoo

Memory tip: Mildew grows on damp old walls, never on clean new ones, yet the word ends the way new does.

Mildew in a sentence

Example 1: A patch of mildew appeared on the bathroom ceiling during the monsoon.

Example 2: Mum aired the old trunk to keep mildew off the woollen blankets.

Example 3: The gardener picked off the rose leaves dusted with mildew.

Fun Fact

Powdery mildew, a common garden kind, can coat pea and rose leaves with what looks like white flour. It is alive, not dust, which is why it spreads.

Practise the CREST Way

Word Cookie

Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:

m_l_ew

a) i, d
b) i, j
c) e, d
d) a, d

Word Cookie

Find the extra letter in the word:

milldew

a) l
b) i
c) w
d) d

Mingle-Mangle

Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:

eldimw

a) meadow
b) mildew
c) mellow
d) widely

Spell-o-Spell

Choose the incorrectly spelt word:

a) humidty
b) mildew
c) cupboard
d) moisture

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Mildew belongs to the same group of living things as ____.

a) mosses
b) algae
c) mushrooms
d) ferns

2. A shopkeeper finds mildew on a roll of cloth. What has most likely gone wrong?

a) it was kept in a wet place
b) it was dyed the wrong colour
c) it was cut to the wrong length
d) it was sold at a low price