yes, the french word is ambiguous. Usually, is means mother in law. But the same word can be used for a stepmother. So, if you are talking about your stepmother, you may have to give more detail to remove the ambiguity.
you will also find 'marâtre' for stepmother, but this is an old expression (found in Snowwhite, Cinderella,...) Nowadays, une belle-mère is indeed ambiguous (I am talking about the word, of course, not the woman ) Jean paul
Yes, indeed. I remember having used the phrase le mari de ma mère to clearly talk about my step-father when I got married, as I then had... two beaux-pères!!
