clavavscuevaTell them apart

Which to use

“clava” and “cueva” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#24,423
“clava” frequency rank
#5,389
“cueva” frequency rank
29812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clava cueva
Definition Palo toscamente labrado, como de un metro de largo, que va aumentando de diámetro desde la empuñadura hasta el extremo opuesto. Cavidad natural del terreno, apta para servir de cobijo a animales y seres humanos, y que puede ser acondicionada para vivienda.

Where the eye mixes clava and cueva

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
clava
5 ch
cueva

Visual trap between clava and cueva

A purely visual mix-up. clava ([ˈklaβ̞a]) and cueva ([ˈkweβ̞a]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clava is recorded at frequency rank #24,423, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklaβ̞a]. cueva is at rank #5,389, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkweβ̞a].

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 29812, this pair ranks #215,144 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of clava vs cueva

Shared letters: acv. Private to "clava": l. Private to "cueva": eu.

"clava" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "cueva" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clavacclava · claav · claba · clavva · cllava · clvaa · lcava
  • cuevaccueva · ceuva · cueav · cueba · cuevva · cuvea · uceva

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "clava" and "cueva" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklaβ̞a] versus [ˈkweβ̞a]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "clava" vs "cueva" - which ranks higher?
"cueva" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,389 in our Spanish list, against #24,423 for "clava". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "clava" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cueva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #215,144 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clava" and "cueva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clava vs Cova". 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 #215,144 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list