fieldingvsfillingConfusable pair

Quick tell: fielding is a noun, filling is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“fielding” is a noun and “filling” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,167
“fielding” frequency rank
#5,221
“filling” frequency rank
20388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature fielding filling
Definition The act of one who fields. present participle and gerund of fill

Letter map: fielding vs filling

Shared letters muted; letters that set fielding and filling apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. fielding runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against filling's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
fielding
7 ch
filling

Role in the sentence - fielding and filling

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: fielding is anoun and fillingaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

fielding is recorded at frequency rank #15,167, classified as anoun. filling is at rank #5,221, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈfɪlɪŋ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 20388, this pair ranks #431,443 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of fielding vs filling

Shared letters: fgiln. Private to "fielding": de. Private to "filling": -.

"fielding" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC  ·  "filling" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • fielding ← feilding · ffielding · fiedling · fieldding · fieldign · fieldingg · fieldinng · fieldnig
  • filling ← ffilling · fililng · fillign · fillingg · fillinng · fillnig · fliling · iflling

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "fielding" and "filling" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "fielding" is a noun and "filling" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "fielding" or "filling"?
"filling" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,221 in our English list, against #15,167 for "fielding". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "fielding" and "filling".

  • Full dictionary entry for "fielding" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "filling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #431,443 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "fielding" and "filling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fielding vs Fuelling". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #431,443 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list