What does vehicle mean?
Word: Vehicle
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Vehicle means a machine such as a car, bus, lorry or taxi that carries people or goods from place to place.
How do you spell vehicle?
Syllables: ve - hi - cle
Tricky part: The h in the middle is the letter that goes missing. Many speakers barely sound it, so students simply leave it out when they write.
Watch out for: veicle, vechicle
Memory tip: Every heavy vehicle carries an h in the middle, even when the ear hardly catches it.
Vehicle in a sentence
Example 1: Only small vehicles can use the narrow lane behind our school.
Example 2: An electric vehicle makes very little noise.
Example 3: The car park was full of vehicles on sports day.
Fun Fact
The word goes back to the Latin vehere, to carry, so it covers more than road traffic. Space agencies call their rockets launch vehicles, and NASA's Apollo astronauts drove a Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Champ
Choose the correct option to make a meaningful word:
vehi_ _ _
a) cle
b) kle
c) cel
d) cal
Show answer
a) cle. Bicycle and tricycle are road machines too, and they finish in just the same way.
Jumble Tumble
Which option has letters that you can rearrange to form the name of something that carries people along a road?
a) ehcivl
b) ehcivol
c) ehcivel
d) ehcivele
Show answer
c) ehcivel. Only this set has exactly the seven letters needed; the others have one too few, one too many or one wrong.
Spell Probe
Fill the blanks with 'e' and 'i' in that order. Which option gives the meaning of that word?
1. v__h__cle 2. p__rc__l 3. h__rv__st 4. b__sk__t
a) anything on wheels that travels along a road
b) the gathering of ripe crops from the fields
c) a container woven from thin strips of cane
d) a wrapped packet sent to somebody by post
Show answer
a) anything on wheels that travels along a road. The two letters finish only the first word; the other three all need an a in one of their gaps.
Sound Check
In which word is 'c' pronounced differently?
a) factory
b) ocean
c) vehicle
d) doctor
Show answer
b) ocean. Ocean gives its c a sh sound, while the other three have a clear k.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A sign at the park gate reads 'No vehicles beyond this point'. Who may carry on?
a) a girl on a motorbike
b) a family out walking
c) a man on a scooter
d) a driver in a van
Show answer
b) a family out walking
2. Which of these would a transport museum not list as a vehicle?
a) a minibus
b) a goods train
c) a tractor
d) a lamp post
Show answer
d) a lamp post
