Confusing words – part 10

Contents
1. A WHILE / AWHILE________________________________________________2
2. ALL / AWL_______________________________________________________2
3. AWAIT / WAIT____________________________________________________2
4. BAZAAR / BIZARRE________________________________________________2
5. BOIL / BROIL_____________________________________________________2
6. BRIDAL / BRIDLE__________________________________________________2
7. CARAT / CARET / CARROT___________________________________________3
8. CLAUSE / CLAWS__________________________________________________3
9. COMPLEMENTARY / COMPLIMENTARY__________________________________3
10. CONVERGE / DIVERGE______________________________________________3
11. CYMBAL / SYMBOL_________________________________________________3
12. DEPRECATE / DEPRECIATE__________________________________________3
13. DISINTERESTED / UNINTERESTED____________________________________4
14. EARN / URN______________________________________________________4
15. EVERY DAY / EVERYDAY____________________________________________4
16. EXPLICIT / IMPLICIT_______________________________________________4
17. FEAT / FEED / FEET________________________________________________4
18. FORGET / LEAVE__________________________________________________5
19. GAMBLE / GAMBOL________________________________________________5
20. HARD / HARDLY___________________________________________________5
21. HOSTEL / HOSTILE________________________________________________5
22. INSIDIOUS / INVIDIOUS____________________________________________5
23. KNEAD / NEED____________________________________________________5
24. LEASED / LEAST__________________________________________________6
25. MAIN / MANE_____________________________________________________6
26. MEAN / MIEN_____________________________________________________6
27. MISSAL / MISSILE_________________________________________________6
28. MORTAR / MORTISE________________________________________________6
29. NUTRITIONAL / NUTRITIOUS_________________________________________6
30. PEARL / PURL_____________________________________________________7
31. PRAISE / PRAYS / PREYS____________________________________________7
32. QUELL / QUENCH__________________________________________________7
33. RESPECTFULLY / RESPECTIVELY______________________________________7
34. RUDE / RUED_____________________________________________________7
35. SHONE / SHOWN__________________________________________________7
36. STATUE / STATUTE________________________________________________8
37. TAPER / TAPIR____________________________________________________8
38. TIDE / TIED______________________________________________________8
39. USED TO / BE USED TO / GET USED TO________________________________8
40. WEAKLY / WEEKLY_________________________________________________8
Choose the correct word from the following pairs:
1. A WHILE / AWHILE
1. They settled __________ in Virginia before moving West.
2. I lived on my own for __________ but I missed the companionship of others.
3. He worked __________ as a pharmacist.
4. “When did that happen?” “Oh, it was __________ ago.”

2. ALL / AWL
1. Next using an ______ and drill, I drilled holes into their metal where needed.’
2. Obviously we can't deal with the problem until we know ______ the circumstances.
3. Start your screw hole with an ______ by tapping gently with a hammer or a soft-face
mallet.
4. The judge cleared the court of ______ but herself and the witness.
5. We had to contact the insurance firm and the airline, ______ of which took a lot of
time.

3. AWAIT / WAIT
1. The neighbours __________ the birth of their first child.
2. I had to __________ on line for an hour to get the tickets.
3. A marvellous reception __________ me on my first day at work. (s.p.)
4. I __________ for her outside while she went to see the doctor. (s.p.)

4. BAZAAR / BIZARRE
1. One of the highlights of the __________, and a great fund-raiser for the group's
charities, is the raffle.
2. The whole __________ evening had an unreal quality to it.
3. Oh yeah, one of those __________ little coincidence things happened to me
yesterday.
4. The goods which were sold at the __________ were divided in three categories.

5. BOIL / BROIL
1. Choose grilled, baked or __________ foods instead of fried.
2. If you give water to a small baby to drink, you have to __________ it first.
3. As water begins to __________, bubbles rise ever faster to the surface.
4. I'll __________ the bacon rather than fry it.
5. I was still __________ with jealousy, but I knew I shouldn't have said what I'd said
to Adrian.

6. BRIDAL / BRIDLE
1. He rides her home and ties her up in the stable before removing the __________.
2. Online __________ stores also carry the latest styles with the most competitive and
reasonable prices.
3. The __________ suite was available early on the wedding day for dressing and
photographs.
4. Jack reappeared at her side carrying two bare-back riding pads and two __________.

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7. CARAT / CARET / CARROT
1. On a fourteen _________ gold chain was a pendant with a design on it.
2. The first solid food she gave her baby was mashed _________.
3. If used inside brackets, the _________ is interpreted as the negation operator.
4. A _________ mark appears between the words ‘paid’ and ‘to’ and the words ‘in cash’
are inserted.
5. Most schools use a _________ and stick approach and we think this is the best way
to do it.
6. The star lot is a large solitaire diamond weighing 4.50 _________.

8. CLAUSE / CLAWS
1. There was a penalty _________ which said you had to pay half the cost if you
cancelled your booking.
2. The sentence 'Although he's quiet, he's not shy' begins with a concessive _________.
3. Our cat likes to sharpen her _________ on the legs of the dining table.
4. Keep your fingers away from the crab's _________ when you pick it up.

9. COMPLEMENTARY / COMPLIMENTARY
1. My family and my job both play an important part in my life, fulfilling separate but
________________ needs.
2. She wasn't very ________________ about your performance, was she?
3. This type of situation would appear to present two problems which are
________________ to each other.
4. Our guests said some very ________________ things about the meal I'd cooked.

10. CONVERGE / DIVERGE

1. The paths all ___________ at the main gate of the park.
2. They walked along the road together until they reached the village, but then their
paths ___________.
3. Due to roadworks, three lanes of traffic have to ___________ into two.
4. Although the two organizations have worked together for many years, their objectives
have ___________ recently.

11. CYMBAL / SYMBOL

1. The red cross _________ was painted on each side of the vehicle.
2. They had a drum kit consisting of a lone _________, kick drum and snare.
3. He described sport as a _________ of peace and a means of promoting fraternity
between nations.
4. By following each music _________ on the sheet, the percussionist knew when to hit
the _________.

12. DEPRECATE / DEPRECIATE

1. We buy what we like and it's a bonus that paintings don't usually _____________ in
value.
2. We _____________ this use of company funds for political purposes.
3. Though Katherine, unfairly to my mind, _____________ the novels.
4. But by how many thousands more did his car simply _____________ in value over
the same period?

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13. DISINTERESTED / UNINTERESTED
1. I was totally ________________ in boys.
2. A(n) ________________ view on the use of the new intoximeter for testing a
driver’s alcohol level appears in this month’s issue of Motoring.
3. His manner was aloof, and he is said to have been ________________ in his
family's concerns.
4. As a family friend with no further ambitions, he was able to offer
________________ advice to the inexperienced future president.
5. The fact is she is not a dispassionate or ________________ witness in this case.

14. EARN / URN

1. Many people are more interested in job satisfaction than in __________ large
amounts of money.
2. He changed the strategy, boiling the water at his office and transporting the freshly
made tea in __________.
3. I thought I could __________ some brownie points with my mother-in-law by
offering to cook dinner.
4. Well done John and congratulations and best wishes to all who so deservedly
__________ their award.
5. There was no inscription on the __________, or on the body length slab of stone on
the ground.

15. EVERY DAY / EVERYDAY

1. Getting into the habit of drinking water, lots of water, ____________ is important.
2. I am the formal leader of the project but the ____________ management is in the
hands of my assistant.
3. There are more than 8000 stations on Indian Railways which are used by millions of
passengers ____________.
4. In his poems ____________ reality is invested with a sense of wonder and delight.
5. ____________, there are new front page stories about the impact blogging is having
on business.
6. That's possibly because there were more people in my ____________ life back then.

16. EXPLICIT / IMPLICIT

1. I gave her very ___________ directions how to get here.
2. ___________ in the poem's closing lines are the poet's own religious doubts.
3. She was very ___________ about what she thought was wrong with the plans.
4. He interpreted her comments as an ___________ criticism of the government.
5. The law on drinking and driving is quite ___________.

17. FEAT / FEED / FEET

1. Your Twitter _______ refreshes automatically to show new tweets.
2. The Eiffel Tower is a remarkable _______ of engineering.
3. After three years in the job she began to get itchy _______.
4. Please wipe your _______ before you come into the house.
5. I'm going to ask one person from each group to _______ back.
6. Getting the job finished in under a week was no mean _______.

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7. Most babies can _______ themselves by the time they're a year old.
8. The athlete managed to leap a distance of 30 _______ in the long jump which was a
world record _______.

18. FORGET / LEAVE

1. I’ll have to go back; I’ve ____________ my car keys.
2. Sarah, you’re always ____________ your car keys on your desk.
3. We decided to ____________ the dog at home.
4. I then realized to my absolute horror, that I had ____________ the present.

19. GAMBLE / GAMBOL

1. The lambs _________ around in the spring sunshine.
2. But in practice we wouldn't be able to _________ with the chance that it might not
work
3. The two of them run off to the woods for a _________ together.
4. I like to _________ when I play cards - it makes it more interesting.

20. HARD / HARDLY

1. No matter how _________ I tired, I couldn’t open that door.
2. Now that we have kids, we _________ ever go out.
3. _________ anyone wants to work _________ for a small wage.
4. They could _________ hear each other because the music was so loud.
5. After a _________ climb, we were rewarded by a picture-postcard vista of rolling hills
under a deep blue summer sky.

21. HOSTEL / HOSTILE

1. There has been a __________ reaction to the government's proposed tax increases.
2. If you're traveling solo, a __________ can be cheaper than a hotel.
3. Volunteers from the shop also give talks in local __________ and provide cheap
clothing to them.
4. The company convinced investors to reject a __________ bid from Enterprise Oil Plc
worth £1.5 billion.

22. INSIDIOUS / INVIDIOUS

1. High blood pressure is an ____________ condition which has few symptoms.
2. Such a difficult choice placed her in an ____________ position.
3. Personally, we can't stand this ____________ practise of sneaking adverts into non-
commercial formats.
4. I have nothing to say about these principles of ____________ discrimination.

23. KNEAD / NEED

1. "Did you ask Sophia to help?" "I didn't ________ to - I managed perfectly well on my
own."
2. Mother didn't appear the least upset, and continued to ________ the bread.
3. You ________ your head examined if you're willing to spend that much on a pair of
jeans.
4. Shane closed his eyes as she continued to ________ his taut, sore muscles.
5. You ________ to ________ the dough for quite a long time when making bread.

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24. LEASED / LEAST
1. "Thanks for cleaning up" "It's the _________ I can do, seeing as I'm staying here
rent-free."
2. The building's 60 units are currently _________ to students of the university.
3. They refused to admit her, not _________ because she didn't have her membership
card with her.
4. The rest consists of vast wilderness concession areas which are _________ to private
safari camp operators.
5. He _________ the car that cost the _________ amount of money.

25. MAIN / MANE

1. One of the _______ reasons I came to England was to study the language.
2. The painting depicts a beautiful young man with a flowing _______ of red hair.
3. The horse was rushing about in the field, tossing its _______.
4. You'll be examined in three _______ areas; speaking, listening and reading
comprehension.

26. MEAN / MIEN

1. His aristocratic _______ and expensive clothes singled him out.
2. These figures _______ that almost six percent of the working population is
unemployed.
3. I want you home by midnight. And I _______ midnight.
4. I was relieved to see his face slip into its impassive _______.
5. If we want to catch the 7.30 train, that will _______ leaving the house at 6.00.

27. MISSAL / MISSILE

1. The __________ strike was devastating - the target was totally obliterated.
2. He hastily opened the __________ and started the opening prayer.’
3. Edith responded immediately by buying a __________ and a catechism and preparing
for baptism.
4. Stones, bottles, and other __________ were thrown at the police.

28. MORTAR / MORTISE

1. Drill a hole and chisel a shallow __________ in that jamb for the strike plate.
2. They can be ground easily in a __________ and pestle or in an electric spice or coffee
grinder.
3. A car bomb and a __________ rip through a commercial area in central Baghdad.
4. Then cut a V-channel across the mortise anywhere within the __________.
5. The buildings are all made of either sandstone blocks or __________ with heavy sand
content.

29. NUTRITIONAL / NUTRITIOUS

1. Some readymade meals are ______________ and very easy to prepare.
2. Cooking vegetables reduces their ______________ value.
3. It does sometimes help to know the ______________ content of foods.
4. It is always important to choose enjoyable, ______________ foods.

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30. PEARL / PURL
1. I put on the ________ earrings Daddy had bought me.
2. Look at how crisp the bobbles are and regularity the ________ stitches.
3. Thank you for that ________ of wisdom, Jerry. Now do you think you could suggest
something more useful?
4. It was just an experiment piece - where I tried to remember how to knit, ________,
cast off, increase and decrease etc.
5. Call it what you will - lily white, creamy white, porcelain or ________ - I am still
ghostly pale.

31. PRAISE / PRAYS / PREYS

1. His economic policies have won widespread _________ for reducing government
debt.
2. The spider _________ on small flies and other insects.
3. ‘I am a devout Christian who _________ every day.
4. His wife’s love affairs _________ upon his mind.
5. However, he did _________ the efforts of the forwards who never stopped working.
6. He stands up on each tee and hopes and _________ that he find the fairway.

32. QUELL / QUENCH

1. Police in riot gear were called in to _________ the disturbances/unrest.
2. When it's hot, it's best to _________ your thirst with water.
3. he Information Minister is trying to _________ fears of a looming oil crisis.
4. People try various ways to _________ their spiritual thirst and to satisfy their soul's
hunger and thirst.

33. RESPECTFULLY / RESPECTIVELY

1. George and Kenneth were married in 1980 and 1985, _______________.
2. When she was asked if she had any ambition to become prime minister, she
_______________ declined to answer the question.
3. As the body was carried through the crowd, people drew back _______________.
4. A group of human heroes and villains set out to _______________ save or exploit
the situation.

34. RUDE / RUED

1. He _______ the fact that he never seized on that domain name for his site.
2. People were quite often _______ about him, often the people he had helped.
3. We had a _______ awakening when we saw our phone bill.
4. She expressed admiration for his work, but _______ her inability to understand his
mathematics.

35. SHONE / SHOWN

1. There was a rumour that the first trailer for the film would be ________, but no such
luck.
2. With the determination she's ________ in the last few months, she's proved nothing's
impossible.
3. It was foggy and the sun ________ feebly through the murk.

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4. They have ________ that the great white shark is not a mindless killer, and its
positive profile is now higher than ever.
5. Her love of the English language was always evident and ________ through her many
and varied readings.

36. STATUE / STATUTE

1. In the centre of the hall stood a colossal wooden statue, decorated in ivory and gold.
2. The independence of the judiciary in France is guaranteed by statute.
3. The statue was erected as a memorial to those who died in the war.
4. Germany still has no insider-dealing offence in its statute books.

37. TAPER / TAPIR

1. On the table, she placed two long ________ candles, lending the room a romantic
atmosphere.
2. Unlike other trees, it doesn't ________ very much. It stays fat all the way up.
3. This cloud forest is home to the elusive ________ and jaguar, as well as one of
nature's most beautiful birds, the resplendent quetzal.
4. The impact of the dollar's depreciation started to ________ off.

38. TIDE / TIED

1. Is the allergy _______ to dairy products, for example?
2. Can you lend me some money to _______ me over till the weekend?
3. We _______ with a team from the south in the championships.
4. The _______ was coming in, so the sailor _______ his boat to the dock.
5. We must look for ways of stemming the rising _______ of protest.
6. He's _______ down by having to work every Saturday.

39. USED TO / BE USED TO / GET USED TO

1. Eventually you'll _____________________ the smells of the laboratory.
2. Although I haven’t got many friends here, I don’t feel lonely. I
_____________________ being on my own.
3. They _____________________ live by the sea, but now they live in the city.
4. Tom _____________________ working night shifts now, although he found it hard
at the beginning.
5. She _____________________ sing in a choir, but she gave it up.
6. His car has been stolen so now he _____________________ getting to work by
bus.

40. WEAKLY / WEEKLY

1. The poll showed that over 40% of Americans worship on a _________ basis.
2. She stood up _________, testing out her strength to find that she hardly had any
left.
3. Everybody disagreed with him, apart from the British _________ The Economist.
4. And then he held out his hand and the old man took it and shook it _________.

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Key

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 awhile a while awhile a while
2 awl all awl all all
3 await wait awaited waited
4 bazaar bizarre bizarre bazaar
5 broiled boil boil broil boiling
6 bridle bridal bridal bridles
7 carat carrot caret caret carrot carats
8 clause clause claws claws
9 complementary complimentary complementary complimentary
10 converge diverged converge diverged
11 symbol cymbal symbol symbol,
cymbal
12 depreciate deprecate deprecates depreciate
13 uninterested disinterested uninterested disinterested disinterested
14 earning urns earn earned urn
15 every day everyday every day everyday Every day everyday
16 explicit Implicit explicit implicit explicit
17 feed feat feet feet feed feat feed feet, feat
18 forgotten leaving leave forgotten
19 gambol gamble gambol gamble
20 hard hardly Hardly; hard hardly hard
21 hostile hostel hostels hostile
22 insidious invidious insidious invidious
23 need knead need knead need; knead
24 least lease least leased leased; least
25 main mane mane main
26 mien mean mean mien mean
27 missile missal missal missiles
28 mortise mortar mortar mortise mortar

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29 nutritious nutritional nutritional nutritious
30 pearl purl pearl purl pearl
31 praise preys prays preys praise prays
32 quell quench quell quench
33 respectively respectfully respectfully respectively
34 rued rude rude rued
35 shown shown shone shown shone
36 statue statute statue statute
37 taper taper tapir taper
38 tied tide tied tide; tied tide tied
39 get used to am used to used to is used to used to is getting
used to
40 weekly weakly weekly weakly

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