Which to use
“filed” and “fill” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,058
- “filed” frequency rank
- #2,297
- “fill” frequency rank
- 5355
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filed | fill |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of file | To make full |
Where the eye mixes filed and fill
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between filed and fill
A purely visual mix-up. filed (/faɪld/) and fill (/fɪl/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5355, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filed is recorded at frequency rank #3,058, classified as averb, pronounced /faɪld/. fill is at rank #2,297, tagged as averb, pronounced /fɪl/.
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 5355, this pair ranks #515,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of filed vs fill
Shared letters: fil. Private to "filed": de. Private to "fill": -.
"filed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "fill" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "filed" and "fill" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "filed" or "fill"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "filed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fill" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #515,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filed" and "fill" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fie vs filed". 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 #515,650 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.