What does wheelchair mean?
Word: Wheelchair
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Wheelchair means a chair fitted with large wheels, used by a person who cannot walk easily. The person can push the wheels with their hands, or someone else can push from behind.
How do you spell wheelchair?
Syllables: wheel - chair
Tricky part: The h after the first w is not heard, so many children write weelchair. The ending is -air as in hair, not -are.
Watch out for: weelchair, wheelchiar, wheelchare
Memory tip: Picture the h as the person riding in the chair, sitting just behind the w at the front: wh, never a lonely w.
Wheelchair in a sentence
Example 1: Grandma uses a wheelchair at the airport because the walk to the gate is so long.
Example 2: Riya pushed her brother's wheelchair carefully through the crowded fair.
Example 3: Paralympic athletes play basketball in specially built wheelchairs.
Fun Fact
The blue sign showing a person in a wheelchair, seen on lifts and parking spaces worldwide, was designed in 1968 by a Danish design student, Susanne Koefoed.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) ambulance
b) whealchair
c) stretcher
d) hospital
Show answer
b) whealchair. The first part is spelt with ee, not ea, so whealchair is the slip.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
wheellchair
a) h
b) e
c) c
d) l
Show answer
d) l. Only one l sits just before the ch.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
lhiwcearhe
a) armchair
b) deckchair
c) highchair
d) wheelchair
Show answer
d) wheelchair. Armchair needs an m, highchair a g and deckchair a d and a k, and none of those is in the jumble.
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) raincote
b) wheelchair
c) sunflour
d) pankake
Show answer
b) wheelchair. The others should read sunflower, raincoat and pancake: flour, cote and kake are sound-alike traps.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. At the railway station, a porter brought a wheelchair for Grandpa. Why did he need it?
a) he found it hard to walk far
b) his suitcase had a broken handle
c) his ticket had been left at home
d) his train was running a little late
Show answer
a) he found it hard to walk far
2. What helps a person in a wheelchair get into a building?
a) a staircase
b) a ramp
c) a revolving door
d) a high step
Show answer
b) a ramp
