Word that means more then one

Learning English can be fun. It can be daunting. It can be empowering. It can also be confusing, on occasion. But one thing it definitely isn’t is boring. Even the most fluent English speakers are often surprised when they discover something new about the language: a grammar rule brought to their attention for the first time, a word that they’d never come across before or, even more surprisingly, a familiar word used in an unexpected way! Yes, it is quite common for one English word to have two (or more) completely different meanings.

The way to tell these same-spelling, different-meaning words apart is to pay attention to the context in which they are being used. This will make much more sense when we see these words in action, so let’s look at some examples.

Here is a word that has more than one meaning:

Mine

• as a noun: a place underground from where minerals are extracted
  Peter has been working at a coal mine since April.
• as a possessive pronoun: to show possession
  This is your bag, not mine.

Isn’t that interesting? The same word—mine—is used in both example sentences, but it means two entirely different things in each.

Here is a list of ten other English words with more than one meaning:

1. Interest

• as a noun: wanting to learn or know more about something
  She developed an interest in programming after taking a course in college and now she is a
  professional programmer.
• as a noun: additional money charged on a borrowed sum
  I am paying a high rate of interest on my home loan.
• as a verb: to arouse curiosity or attention
  We built interest in our product by outlining its many benefits on our social media channels.

2. Date

• as a noun: the day of the month or year
  We still haven’t set a date for the ceremony.
• as a verb: to show the age of something
  This food at this restaurant is delicious but the old-fashioned décor really dates it.

3. Engage

• as a verb: to be involved in some work or an activity
  The students hope to engage in a lively discussion with the visiting professor.
• as an adjective: to have formally agreed to marry someone
  The engaged couple shared the good news with their friends and family.

4. Leave

• as a verb: to go away from somewhere
  Ali leaves for Delhi soon.
• as a verb: to remain
  The ink will leave a stain on my shirt.
• as a verb: to deposit or deliver
  The delivery person leaves Sharmila’s parcels with her neighbor.
• as a noun: to be absent from work or duty
  Gunjan is at home on leave today. She will not be attending the meeting.

5. Novel

• as a noun: a prose, fictionalized narrative in the form of a book that often tells a complex
  story with characters and action
  My mother’s novel about three generations of women from a small town has won the National Book Award this year.
• as an adjective: something that is unique and interesting
  I discovered a novel way to spend less money and save more

6. Park

• as a noun: a public garden or area for recreation
  I am taking my children to play in the park today.
• as a verb: to bring a car or vehicle to a stop for a period of time
  We are leaving for the concert now so that we get a good spot to park the car.

7. Play

• as a verb: to engage in an activity or sport
  We are going to play football today.
  My band is playing at the City Club on Saturday. Why don’t you come check us out?
• as a verb: to act in a dramatic production
  I am playing the role of a politician in my next film.
• as a noun: a theatrical production
  Hamlet is my favorite play of all time.

8. Right

• as an adjective: morally fair, good or proper
  The right thing to do now would be to apologize for your mistake.
• as a noun: morally right or just.
  He doesn’t seem to understand the difference between right and wrong.
• as a noun: something one has legal or moral claim to
  As a citizen of this country I have voting rights.
• as a noun: the direction or location of something
  If you look to your right, you will see the Museum of Natural History.

9. Run

• as a verb: to move faster than while walking
  Don’t run down the street, that’s dangerous!
• as a verb: to go somewhere in urgency or distress (not literally “running”, necessarily)
  Even as an adult, I run to my mother with all my problems.
• as a verb: to contend in a race of some kind
  I intend to run for President four years from now.
• as a noun: a continuous spell of a something
  Souvik has a had a run of bad luck this year.

10. Type

• as a noun: a category of things or people that share something in common
  They sell all types of fabric in that store.
• as a verb: to write something on a keypad by pressing keys
  Wow! You type very fast!

Now that’s a lot of different meanings for only a few words, isn’t it? And if you’ll believe it – many of these words can be used in even more ways than the ones listed here. But don’t be overwhelmed, a good online or print dictionary will help you find all the meanings of any English word you might encounter. And the more you read and speak in English, the stronger your vocabulary will become.

Here’s another great idea – to really power up your vocabulary try a Burlington English course! We have expert teachers on hand to guide you with our spoken English training courses that will take your language learning journey to the next level.

Since there are so many English words that are spelled the same or nearly the same, keeping track of all of them can be difficult.

Many writers confused the words then and than. For a detailed discussion of the differences between these words, review the Writing Explained article “Then vs. Than: What’s the Difference?”

Instead, this article will focus on the differences between the phrases more then and more than. If you have ever wondered whether you should be using more then or more than in your writing, continue reading.

What is the Difference Between More Than and More Then?

In this article, I will compare more than vs. more then. I will use each in a sentence, and then I will also give you a helpful trick to assist you in deciding whether you should be using more than or more then in your own writing.

When to Use More Than

What does more than mean? More than is a phrasal preposition, where it is equivalent to over when describing an amount that is greater than another. A phrasal preposition is two or more words that, together, function as a preposition.

Here are some examples:

• There are more than 20 brands of hot sauce at the grocery store.
• A full grown adult blue whale weighs more than 80 US tons.
• I was more than five minutes late to my shift on Monday, so I was only paid for 7.75 hours of work.
• The husband and wife team of Nick and Elyse Oleksak have a lot to celebrate. Starting Tuesday, their New York City bakery is bringing cream cheese-stuffed bagel balls to Starbucks’ more than 7,000 U.S. locations. –CNBC

Of course, over has other senses as well, which do not mean the same as more than. For instance, you would not say “the ball flew more than my head” instead of “the ball flew over my head.”

When to Use More Then

What does more then mean? More then is commonly misused as a phrasal preposition instead of more than. This usage is incorrect. It would require convoluted syntactical gymnastics to formulate a sentence where more then is appropriate.

Consider the following example:

• Melissa gazed longingly at the fruit salad, asked for more, then got it.

This sentence is grammatically correct, although it could benefit from being reworked to increase clarity.

As you can see, more then is not a single phrase in and of itself, even though the two words are placed next to each other in a sentence. Here, more refers to an amount of fruit salad. Separately, then situates an action in a sequence of events. The words are part of two different phrases, even though they are adjacent each other in the sentence.

Here is another example:

• Patchouli was worn more then than it is now.

This sentence is missing important pieces that keep it from being a properly constructed sentence.

In this example, more is an intensifier that is missing the adverb it is meant to modify. It requires another word, like frequently, heavily, or earnestly, to make sense. Then points to a time in the past, but it lacks specificity. It should be replaced with a more concrete phrase, like “40 years ago” or “in the 1970s.”

The sentence is much easier to read after these corrections:

• Patchouli was worn more earnestly in the 1970s than it is now.

Trick to Remember the Difference

Here is a helpful trick for you to remember more then vs. more than.

More than is a phrasal preposition. Use it when referring to an amount of something that is greater than another amount.

More then cannot be used as a phrasal preposition. It has no real uses in modern English. If you see the words more and then next to each other in your writing, consider rephrasing that sentence to increase clarity.

You can remember to use more than instead of more then since it is spelled with an A, which is also used to spell the word “appropriate.” You can use this trick to remember that more than is appropriate, while more then is not.

Summary

Is it more than or more then? In order to keep your writing error free, you should be careful not to mix these two spellings.

• More than is a phrasal preposition. It can be used as a substitute for over.
• More then is either a misspelling or a clue that you need to revise your sentence.

You can remember to always choose more than since it is spelled with an A, like the word “appropriate.”

If you still need help, you can refer back to this article for a quick refresher.