malhavsmultaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“malha” and “multa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,925
“malha” frequency rank
#4,498
“multa” frequency rank
15423
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature malha multa
Definition estrutura geométrica formada por linhas regulares ou não ato ou efeito de multar

Letter map: malha vs multa

Shared letters muted; letters that set malha and multa apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
malha
5 ch
multa

Corpus notes: malha and multa

malha and multa are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

malha is recorded at frequency rank #10,925, classified as anoun. multa is at rank #4,498, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmuɫ.tɐ/.

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 15423, this pair ranks #56,399 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of malha vs multa

Shared letters: alm. Private to "malha": h. Private to "multa": tu.

"malha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "multa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • malhaamlha · mahla · malah · malhha · mallha · mlaha · mmalha
  • multamluta · mmulta · mulat · mullta · multta · mutla · umlta

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "malha" and "multa" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "malha" vs "multa" - which ranks higher?
"multa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,498 in our Portuguese list, against #10,925 for "malha". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "malha" and "multa". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "malha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "multa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,399 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "malha" and "multa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maa vs malha". 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 #56,399 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list