holevshomesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“hole” and “homes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,986
“hole” frequency rank
#36,429
“homes” frequency rank
65415
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hole homes
Definition Trou. Pluriel de home.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set hole and homes apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
hole
5 ch
homes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. hole (\ˈhoʊl\) and homes (^((h aspiré))\ɔm\) 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 65415, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hole is recorded at frequency rank #28,986, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈhoʊl\. homes is at rank #36,429, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɔm\.

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 65415, this pair ranks #72,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of hole vs homes

Shared letters: eho. Private to "hole": l. Private to "homes": ms.

"hole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "homes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • holehhole · hloe · hoel · holle · ohle
  • homeshhomes · hmoes · hoems · homess · homse · ohmes

Frequency comparison

hole#28,986
homes#36,429

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hole" and "homes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈhoʊl\ versus ^((h aspiré))\ɔm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "hole" or "homes"?
"hole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,986 in our French list, against #36,429 for "homes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering hole vs homes

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 “hole” 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