A selection of English ESL commonly printables

The worksheet contains exercises dealing with easily confused words in everyday English. Students complete the sentences, match words to their definitions and correct mistakes. Key is given. Hope you find it useful.

Commonly Confused Words

Words in the English Language which are commonly confused. Set the record straight once and for all!

This worksheet looks at a few pairs of commonly confused words: your and you`re/ than and then/ to, too and two/ lose and loose/ effect and affect.  There are fill in the blank exercises after each section.

There are 14 sets of commonly confused words with meanings and examples. Next step is practice in three different exercises. Please read Practice Two before sharing with the students and feel free to edit away anything you feel is a bit extreme. Hope they can learn from, and have fun with it. :)
Level: intermediate

COMMONLY CONFUSED WORDS

Created by Lauren Savage @ PrimaryLeap
Commonly Confused Words: Was/Were – This beginner-level worksheet focuses on helping students practise the correct usage of "was" and "were" in past tense sentences. Through fill-in-the-blank and multiple-choice exercises, students learn how to match the correct verb form with singular and plural subjects. This worksheet aims to reinforce past tense verb conjugation and subject-verb agreement, which are essential for building basic grammar skills.

Commonly Confused Words: Was/Were

Simplified way to  earn irregular verbs. This is a basic guide to irregular verbs - as it is overwhelming to try to learn all of them at once. This is a good way to start.

Grammar Guide - Commonly Used Irregular Verbs

In English, there are many words that sound alike but are spelled differently and of course have different meanings. When writing, it is important to use the correct word not only so that readers don’t get their attention taken away from the content of the text but also so they don’t get confused. If you use the wrong word, readers may have to reread a sentence or paragraph several times in order to interpret what you mean. The list below defines the most commonly confused English words and provides an example for each.

201 Commonly Confused Words in English

This worksheet focuses on 30 commonly misspelled English words and includes a multiple choice task to choose the correct version of spelling. Suitable for intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced students.

Commonly misspelled words Multiple choice Intermediate - Advanced

This homonyms lesson teaches students the difference between to, too, and two. It accompanies a short animated video lesson and has fill-in-the-blanks exercises, true or false, and a silly sentence creation exercise.



Students will learn how to know the difference between these three homophones. They will practice spelling, writing, reading, and speaking. There is also a teacher guide on page two with a link to the video lesson that goes along with this worksheet and an answer key! Students will also be able to write their own fun silly sentences using these words.



Video: https://youtu.be/84_8aak3rps



Happy teaching!

To, Too, or Two? - Commonly Confused Words Homophones / Homonyms Worksheet

This worksheet is designed for B1-B2 learners, focusing on verbs often confused like argue/disagree, notice/realize, and teach/learn. Through an engaging article on why now is the best time to be alive, students will reflect on modern life versus past generations, while practicing these commonly confused verbs. The worksheet encourages discussion and speaking activities where students compare their lives to those of their parents or grandparents, prompting reflection and vocabulary building.


In addition to discussion, students will complete grammar exercises where they choose the correct verb for specific contexts, followed by a creative writing activity. For the writing task, students imagine they are living in the past, writing a letter to a friend about their day using the target verbs. This approach blends vocabulary, grammar, and speaking skills, providing practical language use in a creative context. The worksheet promotes student interaction, fostering real communication while focusing on grammar points relevant to their daily lives.

Why Now is the Best Time to Be Alive (speaking and commonly confused verbs)

The worksheet is intended to teach Ss some useful vocabulary to describe places. Page one has 9 short texts and a list of 50 most commonly used adjectives. Page 2 has an exercise and a writing task.

Useful language: Describing Places

A worksheet to go over some commonly used Christmas Collocations. Key included

Christmas collocations

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License

how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

73 Commonly English ESL worksheets pdf & doc