Sound-alike words
Hole vs. Whole
Hole is a noun for an opening or empty space in something. Whole means complete, entire or all of something. There is a hole in my sock; I ate the whole pizza.
| Word | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hole | noun | an opening, gap or hollow space in or through something |
| whole | adjective | complete or entire, with no part left out |
| noun | a complete thing, or all the parts of something taken together |
Hole
noun: an opening, gap or hollow space in or through something
- The dog dug a deep hole under the fence.
- There is a small hole in the roof above the kitchen.
Whole
adjective: complete or entire, with no part left out
- We spent the whole afternoon cleaning the garage.
- Grace read the whole book in one weekend.
noun: a complete thing, or all the parts of something taken together
- The class as a whole did well on the test.
- On the whole, the trip went smoothly despite the rain.
How to remember the difference
Hole is whole with a piece missing (the W), just like a real hole is a spot where something is missing.
Good to know
Golfers use hole for the cup on the green and for each section of the course, as in the ninth hole. In math, a whole number has no fraction.
Spot the mistake
I can't believe you ate the
holewhole cake.Correct: I can't believe you ate the whole cake.
Be careful, there's a
wholehole in the ice near the dock.Correct: Be careful, there's a hole in the ice near the dock.
Check yourself
Pick the word that fits each sentence.
1. The mouse squeezed through a tiny in the wall.
Answer: hole. The mouse goes through an opening, so the noun hole fits.
2. It rained the week of our vacation.
Answer: whole. The sentence means the entire week, so the word is whole.