What does shoal mean?
Word: Shoal
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Shoal means a large group of fish swimming together. It can also mean a shallow place in a sea or river where sand comes close to the surface.
Synonyms: sandbank
How do you spell shoal?
Syllables: shoal
Tricky part: Shoal starts with sh, like ship and shore, and is said as one short syllable.
Watch out for: shoel, shaol, shoale
Memory tip: Fishermen in a ship hunt for a shoal: both words start with sh.
Shoal in a sentence
Example 1: A shoal of silver sardines flashed past the diver.
Example 2: The fishermen followed the seagulls, hoping to find a shoal of mackerel.
Example 3: The boat ran aground on a shoal near the river mouth.
Fun Fact
Each winter, huge shoals of sardines travel up the east coast of South Africa in the Sardine Run. Some shoals stretch for several kilometres and attract dolphins, sharks and seabirds.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) shoal
b) dolfin
c) anemoni
d) octapus
Show answer
a) shoal. Sea words can trick you: dolphin uses ph for f, octopus has o in the middle, and anemone ends in one.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word: shoal
a) flock
b) herd
c) swarm
d) school
Show answer
d) school. A group of fish is called a shoal or a school; herd, flock and swarm are used for other animals.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
From the pier at Kochi, the children watched a large shole of tiny silver fish dart beneath the boats.
a) watched
b) shole
c) children
d) beneath
Show answer
b) shole. The vowel sound in shoal is written oa, as in coal and goal.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Sailors keep away from a shoal because ____.
a) the water there is too warm
b) the water there is shallow
c) the water there is too salty
d) the water there is too deep
Show answer
b) the water there is shallow
2. In which sentence does shoal mean a shallow sandbank?
a) A shoal of tuna swept past the boat.
b) The shoal of herring scattered as the seal dived.
c) The ferry scraped its hull on a hidden shoal.
d) We watched a shoal of minnows in the stream.
Show answer
c) The ferry scraped its hull on a hidden shoal.
