What does upstream mean?
Word: Upstream
Part of Speech: Adverb
Meaning: Upstream means towards the place where a river begins, against the flow of the water.
How do you spell upstream?
Syllables: up - stream
Tricky part: The long e sound in the middle is spelt ea, as in cream and dream. Children often write ee because the sound is long.
Watch out for: upstreem, upstreim, upsteam
Memory tip: A river runs down to the sea, and this word carries the ea of sea in its middle.
Upstream in a sentence
Example 1: The fishermen rowed upstream in the morning.
Example 2: It is hard to swim upstream against the current.
Example 3: The village lies a few kilometres upstream of the dam.
Fun Fact
Salmon swim upstream, even leaping small waterfalls, to lay their eggs in the rivers where they hatched.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) apstream
b) upstream
c) uppstream
d) opstream
Show answer
b) upstream. It starts with up, as in cup, with just one p.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
upstream
a) inland
b) uphill
c) upward
d) downstream
Show answer
d) downstream. Upstream is against the flow; downstream goes with it.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) rivver
b) currunt
c) brige
d) upstream
Show answer
d) upstream. River has one v, bridge needs a d before the g, and current ends in ent.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The ducks paddled upstream past the old mill every moring.
a) upstream
b) moring
c) mill
d) ducks
Show answer
b) moring. Morning needs an n before the i as well as after it.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why is it harder to row a boat upstream?
a) the water pushes against the boat
b) the oars are heavier there
c) the water is much deeper there
d) the river is full of fish
Show answer
a) the water pushes against the boat
2. The waterfall is upstream of our camp. Where is it?
a) nearer the sea than the camp
b) on the far side of the hills
c) nearer the river's start than the camp
d) right beside the camp gate
Show answer
c) nearer the river's start than the camp
