Which to use
“filling” is a verb and “flying” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,221
- “filling” frequency rank
- #1,997
- “flying” frequency rank
- 7218
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filling | flying |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of fill | That flies or can fly. |
Where the eye mixes filling and flying
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses filling with flying
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: filling is /ˈfɪlɪŋ/ while flying is /ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7218, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filling is recorded at frequency rank #5,221, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈfɪlɪŋ/. flying is at rank #1,997, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈflaɪ.ɪŋ/.
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 7218, this pair ranks #508,060 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of filling vs flying
Shared letters: fgiln. Private to "filling": -. Private to "flying": y.
"filling" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "flying" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "filling" and "flying" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "filling" or "flying"?
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 "filling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flying" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #508,060 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filling" and "flying" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filling 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 #508,060 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.