What does sleeve mean?
Word: Sleeve
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Sleeve means the part of a shirt, coat or dress that covers all or part of your arm.
How do you spell sleeve?
Syllables: sleeve
Tricky part: Very few English words end in a bare v, so sleeve finishes with an e after it. Children who stop at the v write sleev.
Watch out for: sleev, sleef
Memory tip: Think of the e at the end as a cuff stitched on after the v.
Idioms and Phrases
- have something up your sleeve: to keep a plan or an idea secret until you need to use it Example: "Our captain smiled because she had a new plan up her sleeve for the second half."
Sleeve in a sentence
Example 1: The sleeve of my sweater is too long, so I fold it back.
Example 2: Papa sewed a button back onto the sleeve of my school shirt.
Example 3: Her top has tiny mirrors stitched along each sleeve.
Fun Fact
Hundreds of years ago, sleeves were sometimes made separately and laced onto a dress, so one outfit could be worn with different pairs.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to form a word:
sl__ve
a) i, e
b) e, i
c) a, e
d) e, e
Show answer
d) e, e. The long e sound in the middle is written with two e's, as in sheep.
Word Makeup
Choose the correct suffix to make a new word:
sleeve
a) less
b) les
c) lesse
d) lees
Show answer
a) less. Like careless and endless, this word ends in less with a double s.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) pockit
b) sleeve
c) button
d) collar
Show answer
a) pockit. Pocket ends in et, not it.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
slleeve
a) e
b) l
c) v
d) s
Show answer
b) l. Sleeve has just one l, straight after the s.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Tara rolled up her sleeves before helping to wash the dishes. Why did she do that?
a) to make her shirt look longer
b) to hide her new watch
c) to keep her cuffs dry and clean
d) to keep her hands warm
Show answer
c) to keep her cuffs dry and clean
2. Which of these does NOT usually have sleeves?
a) a vest
b) a blazer
c) a jumper
d) a raincoat
Show answer
a) a vest
