homingvshostingWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“homing” and “hosting” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,685
“homing” frequency rank
#5,503
“hosting” frequency rank
35188
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature homing hosting
Definition present participle and gerund of home present participle and gerund of host

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set homing and hosting apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
homing
7 ch
hosting

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. homing (/ˈhoʊmɪŋ/) and hosting (/ˈhoʊstɪŋ/) 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 35188, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

homing is recorded at frequency rank #29,685, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈhoʊmɪŋ/. hosting is at rank #5,503, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈhoʊstɪŋ/.

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 35188, this pair ranks #314,145 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of homing vs hosting

Shared letters: ghino. Private to "homing": m. Private to "hosting": st.

"homing" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "hosting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hominghhoming · hmoing · hoimng · homign · homingg · hominng · homming · homnig
  • hostinghhosting · hositng · hossting · hostign · hostingg · hostinng · hostnig · hostting

Frequency comparison

homing#29,685
hosting#5,503

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "homing" and "hosting" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈhoʊmɪŋ/ versus /ˈhoʊstɪŋ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "homing" or "hosting"?
"hosting" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,503 in our English list, against #29,685 for "homing". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering homing vs hosting

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “homing” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list