Confusing Word Pairs

Read the definitions and choose the

correct word for each sentence.
advice - noun, an opinion given as to what to
do
advise - verb, to give advice to, counsel
 My guidance counselor gave me some
excellent_______ on how to choose a career.
 Whether you want it or not, there’s always
someone ready to give you some ______.
 Imagine my surprise when the company
asked me to ______ him regarding our next
advertising campaign.
counsel - verb, to advise; noun, advice
counsil - a lawyer in court

 council- noun, a group of people called

together for discussion, an administrative or
legislative body.
Fill in the correct word
council or counsel
 Changing the school colours was discussed at
our last student ____meeting.
 Everyone thinks I should become a
psychiatrist because people are always asking
me to ___when they have problems.
 ___for the defense successfully blocked the
introduction of evidence concerning a past
lawsuit.
 Affect Effect
 Verb,  Noun,
 to influence  result
 impression
Choose the correct word
 The sun’s rays have a damaging _____ on the
skin, which can cause premature aging and
cancer.
 Earthquakes ___ animals in ways that are
still not understood.
 The movie had an emotional___on the
audience, which was clearly visible on the
face.
allusion - an indirect reference
illusion - a false impression
 The speaker made an ____to the protesters
in the audience.
 Krista made an ___ to her accident once but
has never discussed with me.
 On a hot day, the heat waves on the road
will produce an ___ of a pool of water.
**illegible****** unreadable**
 Physically hard  Too complicated,
or impossible to  badly written,
read because of  or uninteresting
bad writing or to read
printing
Choose the correct word.
 My teacher’s handwriting is so___ that I
can’t read he comments on my compositions.
 I took one look at the theories and formulas
in my Physics book and declared it ____.
 Although this novel started out ot be
interesting, the lot became so confusing that
it made the rest of the book ______.
certainly - definitely, truly
surely - expresses surprise, doubt
 It is___ a magnificent day for the beach.
 ____ you’re not thinking of missing the
concert tomorrow night.
 She is most ___ the right person for this
job.
 You wouldn’t consider cancelling your
trip,_____ .
compliment - something aid in praise
complement - makes complete or perfects
 I will consider this raise a ___ on my work.
 The colours in your blouse __ the rest of
your outfit.
 Everyone was surprised when the candidate
gave his rival a ___ on his speech.
 The desert is a ___ to the meal.
infamous - having a bad reputation
unknown - not known
 Although she had previously published three
books, the author was ___ until her fourth
book was a bestseller.
 Paul was __ among his friends for borrowing
money and never paying it back.
 The crimes of mass murderers are so
shocking that the criminals inevitably
become___ and can remain so for centuries.
first - before all others in a series of things or
actions.
at first -Initial attitude or belief before a
change
 _______it was believed that the earth was at
the centre of the universe.
 She was considered, ____, one of the
suspects.
 I couldn’t see the star_____, but then I
adjusted my telescope.
 _____, heat some oil in the pan.
principal - first in rank, importance; the head
of a school
principle - a fundamental truth or law; a rule
of conduct.
 He gave his ___ reason to being here to
improve himself.
 I met the __ of the local high school.
 She explained the underlying ___ for her
actions but it wasn’t enough to avoid a
reprimand.
emigration - leaving a country or region to
settle in another
immigration - coming into a new country to
settle.
 Whenever the economy is unstable, people
begin to call for limits on __ into the
country.
 ___from Ireland to America was at its height
during the years of the Potato Famine.
 The ___ of farm workers to this area has
been crucial to the success of our farming
industry.
exhausting - very tiring
exhaustive - thorough, leave nothing out
 An____ investigation was concluded when the
criminal was finally captured.
 Participation in the expedition was an ___ but
rewarding experience.
 ___ tests and research were concluded to find
the cause of the disease.
 After an ___ week at work, everyone is
looking forward to the weekend.
moral - good in conduct or character, having
to do with right and wrong , lesson
morale - group spirit
 Everyone’s ___ was lifted when the sun finally
came out on the third day of our vacation
 The ___ of the story is: Don’t depend on others
for your success.
 There’s nothing worse than working in an
office in which ___ is bad, so our boss does
everything she can to keep the atmosphere
pleasant.
historical - concerned with history
historic - important in history
 The first flight of the space shuttle was an ___
event in the US space program.
 I like ___ books because I feel I’m learning
something while being entertained.
 Shakespeare’s ___ plays include Julius Caesar
and Henry V.
 The President is planning a summit of world
leaders that is certain to be a ___ meeting.
device- noun something planned or
constructed for a particular purpose
devise - verb, to plan, invent, arrange.
 I’ll try to ___ a way to get out of work early
so we can start on our trip before dark.
 I need a ___ that will hold my books securely
on the shelves in the event of an earthquake.
 He was rewarded by the company for making
a ___ that reduced the machine’s breakdown
rate by more than half.
misused- improperly, incorrectly used
disused- no longer used
 His recommendations for improvement of
the programme were ___ to shut the
programme down, causing the loss of many
jobs.
 My father’s dream came true when he was
able to buy a small,___ ranch at a very low
price.
prophesy- verb, predict
prophecy - noun, prediction
 Jill has an amazing ability to ___ when
we’ll be given a surprise quiz.
 It’s starting to rain, so I guess your ___
about the weather was correct.
 I wish I could ___ the outcome of next
week’s election.
ingenious - clever
ingenuous - frank, naive
 He was too ___ to suspect that his friends
were taking advantage of him.
 What I liked about her was that although
she’d had some devastating experiences,
she still maintained a certain ___ quality.
 Inventor’s rely on their ___ minds to come
up with new ideas.