ADVANCED ENGLISH HOMONYMS EXERCISE 1

✓ Useful for TOEFL ✓ Useful for Cambridge B2/C1

Did you know? Homonym errors in IELTS and TOEFL writing signal weak vocabulary control, and examiners are trained to spot them.

Homonyms are words that sound the same but have different meanings or spellings: affect/effect, principal/principle, complement/compliment. Confusing them isn't a spelling error, it's a meaning error, which is penalised more heavily under Lexical Resource in IELTS and affects task response scores in TOEFL.

Cambridge C1/C2 Use of English (Part 1, multiple choice cloze) regularly presents homonym pairs as distractors. Knowing which word means what in context is non-negotiable at C1 and above. This series of three exercises builds that precision systematically.

READY TO PRACTICE? LET’S GO!

Choose the correct homonym to complete each sentence.
Example: He lives by (by/buy) the river.

1. Keep walking (strait/straight) until you reach Lincoln Blvd.✓

2. All the leaders claimed that they wanted (peace/piece).✓

3. Don't iron your clothes on the table; use an ironing (board/bored)!✓

4. Lord Williams hardly ever left his (manor/manner).✓

5. That lion has a beautiful (main/mane).✓

6. You're not allowed to (alter/altar) anything on the worksheet.✓

7. That is the (main/mane) reason that I can't go tonight.✓

8. Most of the audience members were (board/bored) with the performance.✓

9. By hiring two new employees, Jim hoped to (lesson/lessen) our workload.✓

10. I love this (summary/summery) weather.✓

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