One-Word Substitution — General English Worksheet | AAI ATC

Before you begin

Formulas you will need

Key formulas Learn by family, not one word at a time
omni- all: omnipotent (powerful), omniscient (knowing), omnipresent (present), omnivorous (eating)
-ology study of: etymology (words), entomology (insects), ornithology (birds), psephology (elections)
Homes: aviary (birds), apiary (bees), aquarium (fish) · -cracy rule: democracy, autocracy, bureaucracy

How to use this worksheet. Knowing what the wrong options mean is what makes the right one findable. And when the four options do not even belong to the same category — two doctors, an adjective and a noun — the odd one out is very often the answer.

Section A · Level 1

Words for people

Ten questions. Learn the prefix families together.

Q1

Select the one-word substitute.
One who speaks many languages

A polyglot speaks several languages. A bilingual speaks only two, and a linguist studies language rather than necessarily speaking many.

Q2

Select the one-word substitute.
One who does not believe in the existence of God

An atheist denies the existence of God. An agnostic merely holds that it cannot be known.

Q3

Select the one-word substitute.
One who loves mankind

Philanthropist comes from phil- love and anthropos mankind. A misanthrope is the opposite.

Q4

Select the one-word substitute.
One who walks on foot

A pedestrian travels on foot, from the Latin ped- foot.

Q5

Select the one-word substitute.
One who is present everywhere

Omnipresent means present everywhere. Omnipotent is all-powerful and omniscient is all-knowing — the omni- family is a favourite exam set.

Q6

Select the one-word substitute.
One who knows everything

Omniscient combines omni- all with sci- know.

Q7

Select the one-word substitute.
One who eats both plants and meat

An omnivore eats food of every kind.

Q8

Select the one-word substitute.
A person who writes the life story of another

A biographer writes about someone else. An autobiographer writes about themselves.

Q9

Select the one-word substitute.
One who cannot read or write

Illiterate means unable to read or write. Illegible describes handwriting that cannot be read.

Q10

Select the one-word substitute.
A person appointed to settle a dispute

An arbitrator is chosen by both sides to decide a dispute.

Section B · Level 2

Places, systems and conditions

Ten questions. Confusable pairs are placed side by side on purpose.

Q11

Select the one-word substitute.
A place where birds are kept

An aviary houses birds. An apiary is for bees and an aquarium for fish.

Q12

Select the one-word substitute.
A place where bees are kept

An apiary is a place for beehives, from the Latin apis, bee.

Q13

Select the one-word substitute.
A government by the people

Democracy comes from demos people and kratos rule.

Q14

Select the one-word substitute.
A government run by a single ruler with absolute power

Autocracy is rule by one person with unlimited authority.

Q15

Select the one-word substitute.
Words written on a tomb

An epitaph is an inscription on a gravestone. An epilogue closes a book.

Q16

Select the one-word substitute.
A speech made without preparation

An extempore speech is delivered on the spur of the moment.

Q17

Select the one-word substitute.
Something that cannot be avoided

Inevitable means certain to happen and impossible to prevent.

Q18

Select the one-word substitute.
A medicine that counteracts a poison

An antidote neutralises a poison.

Q19

Select the one-word substitute.
The study of the origin and history of words

Etymology studies word origins. Entomology is the study of insects — the two are routinely paired as distractors.

Q20

Select the one-word substitute.
The study of insects

Entomology is the study of insects, the counterpart of the previous question.

Section C · Previous year questions and the -ology family

Straight from the AAI ATC papers

Ten questions. Two are real previous year questions.

Q21PYQ 2025 · Shift 1

Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
A study of election trends

Psephology is the statistical study of elections and voting. The name comes from the Greek psephos, a pebble, which was used as a ballot in ancient Athens. Acoustics is the study of sound, philology of language and theology of religion — knowing what the wrong options mean is what makes the right one findable.

Q22PYQ 2025 · Shift 1

Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words.
One who demands strict conformity to rules

A martinet is a strict disciplinarian, named after a French drill master. Note that two of the wrong options are medical specialists and the third is an adjective — when the options do not even belong to the same category, the odd one out is usually the answer.

Q23

Select the one-word substitute.
The study of birds

Ornithology is the study of birds.

Q24

Select the one-word substitute.
A doctor who treats eye disorders

An ophthalmologist specialises in the eye. This word appeared as a distractor in question 21.

Q25

Select the one-word substitute.
A doctor who treats skin disorders

A dermatologist treats the skin, from the Greek derma.

Q26

Select the one-word substitute.
One who is all-powerful

Omnipotent means having unlimited power. It appeared as a distractor in question 22, where it could not be the answer because the clue described a person's behaviour, not their power.

Q27

Select the one-word substitute.
A list of books and articles on a subject

A bibliography lists sources, from biblio- book.

Q28

Select the one-word substitute.
A collection of poems or writings by various authors

An anthology gathers selected works, literally a collection of flowers.

Q29

Select the one-word substitute.
The art of growing plants in water without soil

Hydroponics is soilless cultivation in nutrient solution. This exact definition appeared as a real AAI question in the Sentence Improvement paper.

Q30

Select the one-word substitute.
One who is indifferent to pleasure and pain

A stoic endures both without complaint. An epicurean is almost the opposite, seeking pleasure.

Answer key

Answers

Check only after you have attempted every question. Tap any question above to see the full explanation.

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All thirty questions with the formula sheet printed on the front page and ruled working space for your circuit reductions. Print it, solve it, keep it.

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