What does penalty mean?
Word: Penalty
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Penalty means a punishment for breaking a rule, such as having to pay extra money. In games like football and hockey, it is also a free shot at goal given when the other side breaks a rule.
How do you spell penalty?
Syllables: pen - al - ty
Tricky part: The second vowel is a, as in royalty and loyalty, not e. Writing penelty or penulty is the usual slip.
Watch out for: penelty, penulty
Memory tip: A penalty is a shot at goal, and goal ends with the same al that sits in the middle of penalty.
Penalty in a sentence
Example 1: Sunil Chhetri scored from the penalty spot in the second half.
Example 2: Our housing society charges a penalty if the maintenance bill is paid late.
Example 3: In the inter-house match, our goalkeeper saved a penalty in the last minute.
Fun Fact
The penalty kick was first allowed in football in 1891, after the idea was put forward by an Irish goalkeeper, William McCrum.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) royalty
b) loyalty
c) novelty
d) pennalty
Show answer
d) pennalty. There is only one n after the first e; loyalty, royalty and novelty are spelt correctly.
Spell Probe
Fill the blank with 'e'. Which option gives the meaning of that word?
1. p__rade 2. p__tato 3. p__nalty 4. p__lace
a) a vegetable that grows under the ground
b) a free shot at goal after a foul
c) a march through the streets to celebrate
d) the large, grand home of a king or queen
Show answer
b) a free shot at goal after a foul. Only p__nalty becomes a word with e; parade and palace take a, and potato takes o.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
Extra money that you must pay for returning a library book late is a ___.
a) bonus
b) discount
c) refund
d) penalty
Show answer
d) penalty. A bonus, a discount and a refund all leave you better off; a charge for breaking the rule is a penalty.
Word Tally
You get 2 marks for each misspelt word in the list. How many marks do you get?
penalty, goalkeepar, umpire, tournamant, stadium
a) 6
b) 8
c) 2
d) 4
Show answer
d) 4. Goalkeeper ends in -er and tournament in -ment, so two words are misspelt: 2 x 2 = 4.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In a penalty shoot-out, each team ___.
a) plays with one player fewer
b) takes turns to kick at goal
c) changes its goalkeeper
d) plays ten extra minutes
Show answer
b) takes turns to kick at goal
2. Which of these would give the other team a penalty kick in football?
a) the goalkeeper catching a shot in his box
b) a forward scoring from a corner kick
c) a defender tripping a forward inside his own box
d) a midfielder passing back to a teammate
Show answer
c) a defender tripping a forward inside his own box
