ENGLISH HOMONYMS 3

✓ Useful for TOEFL ✓ Useful for Cambridge B2/C1

Did you know? By Exercise 3, you're working with the homonyms that genuinely trip up advanced writers, native speakers included.

The final set in this series targets the subtler pairs: words where the distinction is fine enough that many fluent English users get them wrong. Pairs like discreet/discrete, elicit/illicit, or eminent/imminent appear in TOEFL reading, Cambridge C1/C2 Use of English, and in the academic sources IELTS candidates must read and respond to.

Mastering all three exercises in this series gives you a systematic grounding in the lexical precision that the highest exam bands require. It also makes your writing measurably more accurate, which is always the goal.

READY TO PRACTICE? LET’S GO!

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

1. My dentist taught me how to improve my (oral/aural) hygiene.✓

2. The lawyer tried to (elicit/illicit) information from one of his sources.✓

3. I've got (dual/duel) citizenship.✓

4. This is the (principal/principle) on which the company was founded.✓

5. He was sent to jail for publishing (illicit/elicit) books.✓

6. You should (pour/pore) some more water into the container.✓

7. The (principal/principle) of our school is retiring this year.✓

8. He was asked to (counsel/council) the detainees regarding their rights.✓

9. She wanted to (compliment/complement) him on his suit.✓

10. The (council/counsel) voted down the measure.✓

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