100 Pairs of Words | Commonly Confusing Words in English

In English, there are many words that have the same meaning but the pronunciation is different. Similarly, there are many words that have the same pronunciation but meaning is different.

Pairs of Words

English words that have the same meaning and some are different in pronunciation. In this lesson, we are going to share with you 100 examples of pairs of words or confusing words in English along with meanings. Learning the pairs of words or confusing words is a good way to improve vocabulary, writing, reading, and speaking in the English language. Learn these confusing words and enhance your conversation and speaking skills. All are given below; let’s learn…

100 Confusing Words

Here’s the list of 100 confusing word pairs with their meanings:

Word	Meaning	Word	Meaning
Affect	To influence something	Effect	A result or consequence
Accept	To receive or agree to something	Except	Excluding or not including
Advice	A suggestion or recommendation	Advise	To give advice or suggest
Adapt	To adjust or modify	Adopt	To take as one’s own
Allowed	Permitted or let happen	Aloud	Out loud; with a clear voice
Allusion	A reference to something indirectly	Illusion	A false idea or appearance
Amoral	Lacking any sense of right or wrong	Immoral	Acting against moral principles
Appraise	To assess the value of something	Apprise	To inform or tell someone
Ascent	The act of climbing or rising	Assent	Agreement or approval
Bare	Exposed, uncovered	Bear	To carry or endure something
Berth	A place to sleep on a vehicle	Birth	The process of being born
Beside	Next to	Besides	In addition to
Bolder	More daring or brave	Boulder	A large rock
Brake	A device to stop a vehicle	Break	To shatter or separate something
Capital	A city that is a center of government	Capitol	A building where lawmakers meet
Cease	To stop something	Seize	To take hold of something forcibly
Censor	To remove offensive parts	Sensor	A device that detects something
Cite	To quote as evidence	Site	A location or place
Complement	Something that completes or adds to something else	Compliment	A polite expression of praise
Conscience	A sense of right and wrong	Conscious	Being aware or awake
Council	An advisory or governing body	Counsel	Advice or legal guidance
Decent	Proper or respectable	Descent	The act of going down
Device	A tool or gadget	Devise	To plan or invent
Discreet	Careful not to attract attention	Discrete	Separate or distinct
Elicit	To draw out or bring forth	Illicit	Forbidden by law or rules
Emigrate	To leave one’s own country	Immigrate	To enter a new country
Eminent	Famous or respected	Imminent	About to happen
Ensure	To make certain of something	Insure	To provide insurance against loss or harm
Farther	Greater physical distance	Further	Additional or more
Fewer	A smaller number of countable items	Less	A smaller amount of uncountable items
Flammable	Easily set on fire	Inflammable	Easily set on fire (same meaning as flammable)
Imply	To suggest indirectly	Infer	To deduce or conclude
Lay	To put or place something down	Lie	To recline or be in a horizontal position
Lead	A type of metal	Led	Past tense of lead (to guide)
Lose	To no longer have something	Loose	Not tight or securely fastened
Medal	An award for achievement	Meddle	To interfere unnecessarily
Moral	Relating to principles of right and wrong	Morale	The spirit or confidence of a group
Peak	The highest point	Peek	To take a quick look
Personal	Relating to an individual	Personnel	Staff or employees
Precede	To come before something else	Proceed	To go forward or continue
Principal	The main part or leader	Principle	A fundamental rule or belief
Stationary	Not moving	Stationery	Writing materials
Than	Used to compare two things	Then	Refers to time or a sequence
Their	Belonging to them	There	Refers to a place
To	Indicates direction or purpose	Too	Also or excessively
Waist	The part of the body between ribs and hips	Waste	To use something without care
Weather	The state of the atmosphere	Whether	Indicates a choice or doubt
Who	Refers to a person or people	Whom	Object form of ‘who’
Your	Belonging to you	You’re	Contraction of ‘you are’
Allusion	A reference to something indirectly	Illusion	A false idea or appearance
Elicit	To draw out or bring forth	Illicit	Forbidden by law or rules
Amoral	Lacking any sense of right or wrong	Immoral	Acting against moral principles
Gorillas	A large ape found in forests	Guerrilla	A fighter using unconventional tactics
Ingenious	Very clever or inventive	Ingenuous	Innocent or naive
Prescribe	To recommend or authorize, usually medication	Describe	To explain in words
Profit	The financial gain from a business activity	Prophet	A person who speaks by divine inspiration
Respectful	Showing respect or courtesy	Respective	Relating to each individually
Weather	The state of the atmosphere	Whether	Indicates a choice or doubt
Capital	A city that is a center of government	Capitol	A building where lawmakers meet
Rational	Based on reason or logic	Rationale	The reason or explanation behind something
Right	Correct or proper	Rite	A religious or ceremonial act
Sole	The only one or the bottom part of a shoe	Soul	The spiritual part of a person
Stationary	Not moving	Stationery	Writing materials
Strait	A narrow waterway connecting two bodies of water	Straight	Direct and without curves
Tortuous	Full of twists and turns	Torturous	Painful or causing suffering
Wrap	To cover or enclose	Rap	A type of music with rhyming lyrics
Yoke	A wooden crosspiece used to pair animals	Yolk	The yellow center of an egg

The above table contains 100 English words that confuse us in speaking and writing. Learning these words along with their meanings helps you to understand these confusing words.