Scholars argue that movement content knowledge in physical education teacher education (PETE) needs to be revisited and problematised. In this paper we develop the concept of movement capability representing a widened view of movement content knowledge. If teacher educators want to teach movement capability as an intrinsic educational goal in PETE there is an apparent need to consider what to teach, how it is taught and also how movement capability is understood by the learners. The aim of this paper is to analyse how PETE students experience the meaning of movement capability through the teaching in aquatics, dance and ice-skating. This study takes its departure from a number of previous empirical studies investigating the meaning of movement capability. Interviews with seven PETE students, divided into two focus groups, were conducted on three occasions. A phenomenographic analysis shows four qualitatively different ways of experiencing the meaning of movement capability. Major differences that can be seen when comparing the results of a previous study on physical education teachers and students in PETE are the aspect of subjective experiences and the aspect of the observer. In the main, the students do not seem to take into account an observer's point of view to the same extent as the group of teachers. The results will hopefully contribute to a deeper and more complex understanding of what can be seen as movement capability in PETE and physical education, and thereby enhance development of the teaching and learning of this capability.