Kept on Wikipedia:Contronym

A contronym is a word with two meanings. These two meanings are the opposites of each other. The meaning is understood by its context in the sentence.

Examples

• bolt: secure, run away

He bolted the door, When he got scared, he bolted

• cleave - split, adhere

The bow of the boat cleaved the water cleanly,He cleaved to his principles in spite of persecution

• clip: fasten, detach

He clipped the pin to his shirt, She used scissors to clip her hair

• constrained - forced into a certain path or action, prohibited from certain paths or actions

To please my spouse, I am constrained to hire my brother-in-law, To avoid nepotism, I am constrained to hire my brother-in-law

• consult: seek information, refer information to

They consulted us about best practices," "They consulted us with best practices"

• dust - remove particles, lay down particles

He dusted the picture frames, She dusted the cookies with powdered sugar

• execute - to start or begin, to kill or finish

We will execute our plan at midnight, The traitor was executed at dawn

• fast - quick, unmoving

He ran very fast, He pulled on the rope, but it held fast

• fireman - makes fires, extinguishes fires.

The steam locomotive's fireman shoveled coal into the firebox, The fireman used a hose to spray water to put out the fire.

• fix - restore, castrate

He fixed the broken table, They had their puppy fixed

• left - remaining, departed from

After taking an apple, there were two left, He opened the door and left

• literally - without exaggeration, with exaggeration The festival was literally attended by hundreds of people, My brother's surprise party was literally attended by hundreds of people
• moot - open to debate, settled beyond debate

The car's value is moot, Your dating that boy is moot

• off - off, on

He turned the lights off, When the window broke, the alarm went off

• rent - buy use of, sell use of

He rented a room to make extra money, She was looking for a house to rent

• table - to place on the agenda for consideration, to remove from consideration

She plans to table the motion at the next meeting, The issue has been tabled indefinitely

• transparent - invisible, obvious

The glass was transparent, His motives were transparent

• sanction - bless, punish

The priest sanctioned the marriage, The US government sanctioned Cuba

• seed - to plant seeds, to remove seeds

The children seeded the ground with pumpkin seeds, They seeded the watermelon before they served it

• stem - to provide with a stem, to remove the stem of

The glasses are being stemmed, He stemmed the pears

• variety - one type, many types

Granny Smith is a variety of apple, The store sells a variety of produce

• virago - loud overbearing woman, woman of stature and strength

My mother-in-law is such a virago, My mother is such a virago

• weather - to wear away, to withstand

his skin was weathered, the boat weathered the storm well

Other websites

• 75 Contronyms - one of the largest lists online

This article "Contronym" is from Simple English Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Contronym.