Words Commonly Confused_ Exercise_ Answer Key
1.
Pam walked forward to __accept_______the trophy. (accept,except)
2.
Diana was ______averse__________ to eating worms. (adverse, averse)
3.
Lise ate _____a lot__________ of potato chips at the party. (a lot, a lot, allot)
4.
Rudy’s answers to our test were almost ___all right_________ (all right, alright)
5.
The kiss had a surprising ___effect_____ on Melanie’s feelings. (affect, effect)
6.
Charles asked the blonde in his economic’s class if she would go out with him
__any time__________ (anytime, any time)
7.
Barry, Tim and Gaston had perfect scores on their test as long as you added them
___all together________________ (altogether, all together)
8.
Carolina was __anxious_______about her lost puppy. (eager, anxious)
9.
The train’s rough __ascent______up the mountain gave Cheryl second thoughts
about her trip. (ascent, assent)
10.
Georgia lived in the ___capital___ of Newfoundland for four years. (capital,
capitol)
11.
Debby’s shoes _____complement_________her dress. (compliment, complement)
12.
Richard’s car is ___composed___________ (composed, comprised) of many
mechanical parts.
13.
Tim was still _conscious_____after the party, but his friends definitely did not
want him to drive. (conscious, conscience)
14.
Louise _____convinced___________me that Bill Cosby was a great
communicator.
(convinced, persuaded)
15.
Rudy _____counseled_________his friend not to take that course. (counseled,
councilled)
16.
Monique is ___currently_________dating ten boys but her fiance thinks that she
should stop _____presently__________ (presently, currently)
17.
Cheryl ___decimated___________ the paper Bill was reading when she cried.
(decimated, devastated)
18.
Pat looks pretty ____decent_______today. (descent, decent, dissent)
19.
Lisa was a bit nervous when the plane went into rapid ____descent________.
(decent, descent, dissent).
20.
Louise was faced with the ____problem____________of getting a job, borrowing
from her family, or robbing a bank. (problem, dilemma)
21.
Mercedez is ____uninterested__________ in the class because it is boring to her.
(uninterested, disinterested)
22.
People are ___desirous______________ of many things – wealth is only one of
them. (desirous, desirable)
23.
He was an __eminant___________master of Tae Kwon Do; therefore, we were a
little in awe of him. (eminant,imminent)
24.
The supervisor kept making ___further________demands on his employees.
(farther, further)
25.
The students ___flouted_____the law by sitting on the steps of the police station s
moking marijuana. (flaunted, flouted)
26.
My old washing machine finally _____foundered_________this week.
(foundered, flounded)
27.
The invitation asked us to dress ___formally________ . (formerly, formally)
28.
His _____grizzly_________ beard revealed his age. (grizzly, grisly)
29..
CFBNB held a trade show last weekend in one of their large
__hangars________________ (hangers, hangars)
30.
They ______hanged_____________ him for murder. (hanged, hunt)
31.
__I hope_________the weather will be warmer tomorrow. (I hope, hopefully)
32.
Are you ___implying__________ that I’m not a serious student? (inferring,
implying)
33.
Is the test clear enough? Can you read ____its___ pages? (it’s, its)
34.
Given the choice between wealth and health, most people would choose the
__latter___________ (later, latter).
35.
Sometimes when you are very nervous you feel slightly
___nauseated___________ (nauseated, nauseous)
36.
Brenda never told her husband the truth about her ____past_________ (past,
passed)
37.
I walk __past__________ our classroom door sometimes. (past, passed).
38.
Black cats are sometimes thought to __portend_________something evil.
(purport, pretend, portend)
39..
Some students are in a big hurry to ___proceed_____with their studies; others are
more relaxed. (proceed, precede).
40.
His ____principal_________ reason for getting a degree was to get a good job.
41.
People don’t seem to have any ___prinicples_________ anymore. (prinicpals,
principles)
42.
The dog __prostrated_________himself in front of his master. (prostated,
prostrated)
43.
You will learn to _cite______ your sources when you write research papers. (site,
cite, sight)
44.
I felt ill __so___I didn’t do my homework last night. (so, so that)
45.
People don’t buy a lot of ___stationery__________these days because they
don’t write as much as they did in the past.
46.
There was a ____tinge_______of red on my daughter’s lips; I knew she had been
playing with my makeup. (tinge, twinge)
47.
__They’re___________sitting in a bad place if they really want to see the play.
(Their, They’re, There)
48.
Love can sometimes be _____tortuous_______ (tortuous, torturous)
49.
They climbed up a narrow __torturous__________path. (tortuous, torturous)