TOEIC Link Part 5: sound-alike verb pairs study guide

Part 5 of the TOEIC Link rewards readers who can tell apart words that sound almost the same. Verbs are the worst offenders: two verbs can share a stress pattern and most of their sounds, yet one fits the sentence and the other does not. When you are reading quickly, the wrong verb "sounds right," and that is exactly the reaction the test is built to punish.

This guide gathers the near-homophone verbs that show up most often on business English tests, sorts them by the reason people mix them up, and gives you the single clue that settles each blank. Unlike the broad commonly confused word pairs master index, this page stays inside one grammatical family — verbs — so you can drill the specific decision Part 5 forces on you: which action does the sentence describe?

Verbs that differ by a single prefix

The most common trap swaps a prefix while keeping the same root, so the two verbs look like siblings.

accede versus exceed — to accede is to agree or take office; to exceed is to go beyond a limit. "Accede to a request" versus "exceed the budget."
precede versus proceed — to precede is to come before; to proceed is to move forward. A slide can precede another; a meeting can proceed.
expand versus expend — to expand is to grow larger; to expend is to spend or use up. A company expands; it expends resources.
prescribe versus proscribe — to prescribe is to recommend or order; to proscribe is to forbid. Near-opposites hiding behind one letter.

Clue: read the prefix as meaning. Ex- points outward or beyond, pro- points forward, pro-scribe points against. Match the direction of the sentence to the prefix.

Verbs about information and communication

A second cluster involves speaking, hinting, and drawing something out — actions that blur together in a business memo.

allude versus elude — to allude is to refer to something indirectly; to elude is to escape or avoid. A speaker alludes to a plan; a solution eludes a team.
imply versus infer — a speaker implies (suggests); a listener infers (concludes). The direction of the sentence tells you which role the blank plays.
elicit versus illicit — to elicit is to draw out a response; illicit is an adjective meaning illegal. If the blank is an action, it is almost always elicit.
cite versus site versus sight — to cite is to quote a source; a site is a location; sight is vision. Reports cite data.

Clue: decide who is doing what to whom. Is the subject giving information (imply, allude), receiving it (infer), or pulling it out of someone (elicit)?

Verbs of position and motion

Physical verbs are dangerous because their forms overlap and their transitivity differs.

raise versus rise — raise takes an object (you raise something); rise does not (something rises on its own). Prices rise; a company raises prices.
lay versus lie — lay needs an object (lay the report on the desk); lie does not (lie down). The past tenses (laid / lay) are where most errors happen.
defer versus differ — to defer is to postpone or yield; to differ is to be unlike. "Defer a decision" versus "opinions differ."
waive versus wave — to waive is to give up a right; to wave is to move your hand. Contracts waive fees.

Clue: if the verb takes a direct object, you usually need the transitive member of the pair (raise, lay). If nothing receives the action, use the intransitive one (rise, lie). For a fuller treatment, see raise versus rise and lay versus lie.

Verbs of judgment and approval

Finally, business passages use several verbs of evaluating and notifying that share sounds.

appraise versus apprise — to appraise is to evaluate; to apprise is to inform. A manager appraises work and apprises staff of a decision.
device versus devise — a device is a thing (noun); to devise is to plan (verb). If the blank is an action, choose devise.
flaunt versus flout — to flaunt is to show off; to flout is to ignore a rule openly. Employees flout policy, not flaunt it.

Clue: ask whether the sentence is about measuring, informing, creating, or defying — each maps to exactly one verb in these pairs.

How to study this cluster efficiently

You do not need to memorize definitions in isolation. Instead, for each pair, keep one short sentence that fixes the difference — "prices rise, a manager raises prices" — and rehearse the pair as a unit. On test day, when a Part 5 blank offers two near-homophone verbs, name the action the sentence describes before you look at the options. That single habit turns the trap into an easy point.

Once these verbs feel automatic, move on to the noun and adjective families in the commonly confused word pairs master index, and drill the office-specific set in the business and finance confusable pairs study guide.