K. LALITHA BAI
 Associate Professor,
 English, Hyderabad.
 
 It is quite common in English that we get confused while using certain words. Hence, it is essential to know their meaning. These confusions occur in the use of homonyms, homographs and homophones.
 A homonym is one of a group of words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings.
     Example: left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right)
 Homographs are usually defined as words that share the same spelling and different meaning, regardless of how they are pronounced.
     Example:    close = nearby
         close = to shut
 Homophones are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation and different meaning, regardless of how they are spelled.
     Example:    pick a flower
         bake with flour
 It is a known fact that a good dictionary is a great source to verify the usages of words. Apart from this, listening to native speakers and possessing a general reading habit enhances your skills. Let us learn some of the words that are confused or misused.
    
 Accident - an unfortunate happening
     Incident- an event
    Adapt- to make suitable to
     Adopt- to take as someone's own
     Adept- expert
     Alternately- regular interchange
     Alternatively- a choice
     Anonymous- unknown
     Unanimous- in complete agreement
     Battle- a short conflict
     War- a long conflict
     Berth- a sleeping place
     Birth- act of being born
     Canvas- a strong rough material for painting
     Canvass- to support a person
     Corporal- a lower rank army officer
     Corporeal- physical
     Corpse- dead body
     Corps- a unit of army
     Deceased- dead
     Diseased- suffering from a disease
     Discover- to find something that was already existing
     Invent- to make something new
     Draught- flow of air in a room
     Drought- a long period with no rains
     Emigrant- a person who leaves his country to live in another country
     Immigrant- a person who has come to another country to live permanently
    Famous- known by many people
     Notorious- well known for being bad
     Few- not many (used with countable nouns)
     Less- not much (used with uncountable nouns)
     Further- to a greater degree
     Farther- a greater distance
     Historic- something important
     Historical- connected with history
     Industrial- related to industry
     Industrious- hard working
     Judicial- related with matters of judiciary
     Judicious- wise
     Later- at a time in future
     Latter- second of two things
     Luxuriant- dense growth
     Luxurious- related with luxury
     Lose- to miss something
     Loose- not firmly fixed
     Official- connected with a position of authority
     Officious- too ready to use power
     Principal- head or chief
     Principle- a rule
     Quite- to a great degree
     Quiet- calm
     Refuse-  not to grant something
     Refuge- shelter
     Stationary- not moving
     Stationery- materials for writing
     Temporal- connected with time
     Temporary- not permanent
     Jealous- angry or unhappy
     Zealous- full of enthusiasm
  
 PRACTICE TESTS
 
 Directions (Q. 1-15): Each question below has a blank/ two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the word/ set of words from the five options for each blank that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
 1.    It is the clerks job to order the ____.
     1) Stationery    2) stationary
     3) station        4) statutory
     5) situation
 2.    The Mississippi is the ____ river of the United States.
     1) Principle    2) principles
     3) principled    4) principal's
     5) principal
 3.    The teacher spoke so ____ I could ____ hear her.
     1) Quiet… hardly    2) quietly… hardly
     3) quite… hardly    4) quietly… hard
     5) quiet… hard
 4.    Unfortunately, some ____ tend to be rather ____ .
     1) Official… office
     2) officials… office
     3) officials…official
     4) official… officers
     5) officials… officious
 5.    They accepted they would have to ____ their jobs.
     1) Lose    2) loose    3) lost
     4) losing    5) loosing
 6.    He was charged with the offense but ____ released on bail.
     1) Latter    2) late    3) later
     4) latest    5) lately
 7.    Going to court to settle a dispute is a ____ procedure.
     1) Judge    2) judicious     3) judicial
     4) judging    5) Judaic
 8.    In ____ cities you'll find many factories.
     1) Industry    2) industrious
     3) industries    4) industrial
     5) industrialize
 9.    The fact that the U.S., Russia and China now stand ____ against terrorism is a ____ development.
     1) Unit… historical
     2) unity… historic
     3) uniform… history
     4) united… historian
     5) united… historical
 10.    I could not go any ____.
     1) Farther    2) further    3) far
     4) extra    5) fur
 11.    His prime-time TV appearance helped him ____ his cause.
     1) Farther    2) further    3) far
     4) more    5) former
 12.    The book of ____ quotations inspired us all.
     1) Famous    2) notorious    3) famed
     4) eminent    5) celebrated
 13.    America is home to ____ from all over the world.
     1) Immigrants    2) immigrant
     3) immigration    4) emigrant
     5) migrant
 14.    He paints pictures on ____ and camps out in a ____ tent.
     1) Canvas… canvass
     2) canvass… canvas
     3) canvas… canvas
     4) canvassed… canvas
     5) canvassing… canvas
 15.    You can sleep well on ____ because of the comfortable ____.
     1) Board… berths    2) board… birth
     3) berths… berths    4) berth… birth
     5) births… berths
 Directions:  (Questions 16 to 30) Which of the phrases (1), (2), (3) and (4) given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and no correction is required, mark (5) as the answer.
 16.    The car rammed into a stationary lorry.
     1) Stationery    2) Station
     3) Statutory    4) Situation
     5) No correction required
 17.    Korean workers are among the most industry in the world.
     1) Industrious    2) Industrial
     3) Induct        4) Induce
     5) No correction required
 18.    Some people like reading calmness novels.
     1) historic    2) Historical
     3) History    4) Historians
     5) No correction required
 19.    Many poorer work from Europe never reached America.
     1) Emigration    2) Immigrant
     3) Emigrants    4) Emigrant
     5) No correction required
 20.    The crew says they can deal with anything, even the begin of a baby!
     1) Births        2) Birth
     3) Berth        4) Berths
     5) No correction required
 21.    The country works on the role that all citizens are equal.
     1) Principles    2) Principled
     3) Principal    4) Principle
     5) No correction required
 22.    The party's candidate wasn't able to canvasing enough support to win the election.
     1) Canvas        2) Canvassing
     3) Canvass    4) Canvassed
     5) No correction required
 23.    You are much right in saying so.
     1) Quiet    2) Quite    3) Quit
     4) Quiets    5) No correction required
 24.    A temperature gap in the scenes is artistic.
     1) Temporal    2) Template
     3) Temporary    4) Tempting
     5) No correction required
 25.    Saving money for a rainy day is a judicious decision by the poor man.
     1) Judicial    2) Judging
     3) Judge        4) Juggling
     5) No correction required
 26.    Of the two scenes in the film, I liked the later.
     1) A later        2) An later
     3) A letter        4) The latter
     5) No correction required
 27.    They are zealous of his newly acquired riches.
     1) Are jealous    2) Were zealous
     3) Is jealous    4) Are jealousy
     5) No correction required
 28.    The players ran towards the pitch zealous.
     1) Jealous        2) Jealousy
     3) Zealously    4) Zeal
     5) No correction required
 29.    Uganda refuge him a visa.
     1) Refused    2) Refuse    3) Refusing
     4) Reuse    5) No correction required
 30.    Madhubala has luxury hair.
     1) Luxurious    2) Luxuriously
     3) Luxuriant    4) Lush
     5) No correction required
 
 ANSWERS:
 1) 1     2) 5    3) 2     4) 5    5) 1
 6) 3    7) 3    8) 4    9) 5    10) 2
 11) 2    12) 1    13) 1    14) 3    15) 1
 16) 5    17) 1    18) 2    19) 3    20) 2
 21) 4    22) 3    23) 2    24) 1    25) 5
 26) 4    27) 1    28) 3    29) 1    30) 3