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Homonyms Quiz #3

Can you guess each homonym based on two different definitions?
Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation, but different meanings
Includes both true and polysemous homonyms
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 7, 2019
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First submittedAugust 1, 2012
Times taken66,325
Average score70.0%
Rating4.42
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Meaning #1
Meaning #2
Answer
Sense of self-worth
Group of lions
Pride
Student
Eye part
Pupil
Seat of government
Uppercase letter
Capital
Pelvis part
Trendy
Hip
Leaf gathering device
Cad
Rake
Unit of bread
To laze about
Loaf
To bombard
Turtle's carapace
Shell
Type of precipitation
To salute or praise
Hail
Charge to enter a club
To record another
musician's song
Cover
Offspring born
at the same time
To improperly
dispose of trash
Litter
Meaning #1
Meaning #2
Answer
Timepiece
To look at
Watch
Part of the year
To flavor
Season
To fish
Geometric property
Angle
Ursine animal
Stock market pessimist
Bear
Metallic element
Slang for police officer
Copper
Book part
Teenager who assists
at Congress
Page
River's edge
Money storage location
Bank
Barrel
Percussion instrument
Drum
Lock opener
Piano part
Key
To raise
Butt
Rear
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59 Comments
AleckrulesOK
+10
Level 19
Jul 29, 2012
Really, really good quiz - even though I did it so badly - brilliant!
KatM
+3
Level 23
Jul 31, 2012
Very interesting slang for police officer. o.o!
Brickie
+2
Level 35
Feb 28, 2014
It's a Britishism
ander217
+1
Level 74
May 22, 2014
It was used in the USA when I was a kid, but it was more often shortened to "cop". You still see it in some of the old movies. I always heard it came from the copper buttons or badges on policemen's uniforms, but some say it came from the verb "cop" as in to cop a ciminal. It may have originated in the UK but the term has been used in the US for a long time.
prs17
+1
Level 75
May 5, 2016
I learned (perhaps incorrectly) that "Copper" came from badges made of copper, worn by the police.
coro
+2
Level 58
Jan 12, 2017
Cops and Robbers was a favourite game when I was a kid.
DonTheLamplighter
+1
Level 85
Aug 6, 2017
My understanding was that "cop" was an acronym for "constable on patrol", which would seem to jibe with a 19th century British origin.
RuthlessCosmo
+7
Level 74
Jul 1, 2021
Always assume that etymologies based on initialisms and acronyms are phony. TIPS does not derive from "to insure prompt service," POSH is not short for "Starboard outward, port home" and GOLF has nothing to do with “Gentleman Only Ladies Forbidden.”

There are exceptions, of course, particularly for terms used by the brass and the grunts, such as SNAFU and FUBAR.

As for COP, it appears that it derives from the English word "copper," meaning "someone who captures." The OED claims that term cop meaning 'to capture' shows up in 1704, more than a century before Peel established the first modern police force.

partdavid
+1
Level 72
Aug 8, 2023
From a real brief StackExchange discussion (because the subject is pretty interesting) it looks like we just didn't really pronounce abbreviations in this way until around WWI. There are examples of abbreviations and initialisms that are ancient, like ΙΧΘΥΣ which could be understand as a backronym or a term of its own, but the word itself of course didn't originate there.

I don't think we have very many which are actually in common use as words. Laser, maybe radar and scuba? Like the questioner in that article, I wonder what the oldest one is, and the oldest one that became a word used as a word and not just an acronym. The old suggestions there like "AWOL" and "POTUS" we don't use as words.

GameKitty
+4
Level 46
Dec 10, 2015
How about "brass" ? That's the first slang/metal I thought of.
ChaosQuizzer
+6
Level 22
May 5, 2016
Brass isn't a metallic element. It is a compound made of copper and zinc.
supermusic
+1
Level 69
Jun 30, 2021
Boooooo

Listen, I got copper, but I tried brass first, and honestly, it's such a simple alloy, it should count.

Berney
+2
Level 82
Jul 1, 2021
... but brass isn't an element, and it's not slang for a police officer.
Kawada01
+1
Level 60
Aug 8, 2023
Brass is indeed not an element, but it is slang for police officers and military personel, particularly higher ranking ones.
DrCoolKid69MD
+1
Level 65
Aug 8, 2023
We're all aware. It's still not an element, so it still wouldn't work in the context of the quiz.
Somequiztaker
+3
Level 78
Jan 16, 2017
I have heard Tin being used as slang for a police officer as well. It is a reference to the badge.
partdavid
+1
Level 72
Aug 8, 2023
Just "tin"? "I was pulled over by a tin"? "I had to shove the weed in my pocket really fast because I saw a tin"? I'm skeptical. Not saying no one uses it but I think the vast majority of English speakers would be confused by it.
KiwiQuizWhiz
+2
Level 39
Nov 24, 2020
I normally call the police cops, but I have heard and used the term coppers.
anorak16
+2
Level 11
Jul 31, 2012
Very interesting quiz! Never thought of 'rear' for butt and to raise.
tom88
+2
Level 74
Aug 29, 2016
that's the only one that stumped me. sat there thinking about it for most of the allotted time
kenpo17
+8
Level 66
Mar 7, 2019
I was stuck on it for awhile because I was thinking of the wrong definition of "to raise," as in to lift something.
Sifhraven
+2
Level 72
Jul 31, 2019
ow i saw rear, as in to rear ones ugly head, so did see that type of lift in it. Or how a horse rears on its hindlegs.

I took me a few times of reading your sentence that you meant that it meant something else too (I thought huh how do you mean wrong, that is correct). Like raising children, i would have never thought of that.

sierraistheshiz
+1
Level 19
Oct 13, 2012
Very nice!
TheWombat
+6
Level 73
Aug 5, 2014
Cool quiz. 'Timepiece' and 'To look at' could also be 'clock'.
DiscoBayGolfer
+4
Level 78
Sep 6, 2014
How? I don't ever see this conversation happening...What are you doing tonight? Not much, probably "clock" a little TV.
Sifhraven
+8
Level 72
Jul 31, 2019
really.... most synonyms arent 100% interchangeable for every situation... just because something doesnt fit a single sentence you (deliberately?) picked out... That way you can discredit nearly every synonym,

I tried clock first too, and it isnt that obscure, because english isnt even my first language...

To clock is more like to have noticed, like i've seen it, check. You can clock a car that follows you. Or snipers in a building. So taking in the surroundings and noticing some important stuff. That is the best way I can describe it. (I guess it is originally from clocking the time on a stopwatch for a car doing a lap, as there too it has a sense of "caught" you caught the time)

FlickerP
+6
Level 74
Jun 28, 2021
I tried 'clock' first even though 'watch' is clearly the more obvious answer. To clock something is commonly used in British slang
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 75
Nov 24, 2021
It is common but it doesn't mean 'to look at'. I like that both clock and watch are time pieces with alternate meanings related to seeing things though.
Debant
+1
Level 24
Sep 6, 2014
Enjoyed this one.
Nyackjohn
+2
Level 79
Sep 6, 2014
Got 20 out of 20, with 2:23 left, but actually whizzed through the first 19 only to spend an inordinate amount of time on "to raise - butt". It being a word with several meanings, "to raise" slowed me way down, as first I was thinking of it as "to lift" as in "raise your glass", THEN went to "to increase" like "raise your salary" or "I'll raise that bet" - took a while to figure out the alternate "to parent" or "to grow" meaning... very cool quiz!
DeusCaritasEst
+6
Level 55
Aug 12, 2016
Yeah, that was a good one. It's pretty obvious right away that there were multiple meanings of "to raise", but then I realized there are also multiple meanings of "butt"; all of which are a bit more obscure (to butt, as in what a goat does, or a butt as in a cigarette butt, etc.). Had to go through various options on both sides to figure it out eventually. Good job, QM. :)
ChipOtley
+5
Level 74
Jan 13, 2017
The irony that a quiz on homonyms uses homonyms to describe the homonym
AbiA
+1
Level 85
Mar 5, 2023
Also butt as in a water butt, used to collect rainwater.
InfiniteInsanity999
+1
Level 42
Jan 11, 2017
18/20, wasn't quite expecting to get that much... I did miss Rear and Hail though, no idea how I didn't think of them xD
spoolygoo
+1
Level 76
Aug 16, 2018
I'd say change it to 'play' another musician's song. 'Record' had me thinking of a producer or something. But nice quiz!
POOCH
+2
Level 72
Nov 19, 2018
I believe "record" is the correct term rather than play. As in - Aretha Franklin recorded a cover of Otis Redding's "Respect". She didn't just play the song.
IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 90
Sep 12, 2019
Cover bands cover other musicians night after night but may never record a single note.
BlackLab
+2
Level 66
Mar 7, 2019
I can't believe how many people got the answer 'angle' wrong.
Sifhraven
+3
Level 72
Jul 31, 2019
to be honest I was thinking about a different kind of property... so I thought.... cube house?!? that cant be right haha. I only got it by trying to think of to fish again ( which I had initially given up) and only after coming up with angle I went like, ahhh that kind of property...
Sifhraven
+5
Level 72
Jul 31, 2019
Isnt a litter usually just about animals? If it had said animal offspring I would ve gotten it. Now I was thinking, twins, sibling, kin, trying to think something up with generation.. (and yes I know those wont fit the 2nd part, but no synonyms came to mind besides dump for that one>>)
cathlete
+1
Level 75
Apr 12, 2020
I may be wrong, but I believe that "property" is not the right technical term here. In mathematics, a property does not refer to a figure such as a shape or angle.
Beatlesqueen432
+2
Level 44
Dec 12, 2020
I tried to put twin for litter 🤦😂
Getreelgirl
+1
Level 81
Feb 20, 2021
Same.
Getreelgirl
+2
Level 81
Feb 20, 2021
Accept "theathon" for "season".
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 75
May 8, 2021
Can't believe I blanked on "capital". Is QM asserting that The Hague is the capital of the Netherlands here?
RealDad12
+1
Level 67
Jun 27, 2021
100%, but I'm a word person.
TheCrusher
+3
Level 71
Jun 29, 2021
Couldn't "Shower" work for Precipitation/Praise? There are often showers on the weather forecast, and you can shower someone with compliments and such. (Maybe having to add "with ..." to the second meaning makes it invalid...)
alarbus82
+1
Level 50
Aug 8, 2023
Also, wedding shower as a noun.
RuthlessCosmo
+3
Level 74
Jul 1, 2021
When I worked as a library clerk they gave me the job of organizing the checkout slips in order to keep me busy. One day I found a slip for "How To Hold Up Banks," which I thought sounded pretty interesting (and even useful in case I wanted to change professions) so I went down into the stacks on my lunch break. I found it--on a shelf devoted to books about soil engineering. [You can order it on Amazon if you don't believe me.]
Anderis
+3
Level 71
Oct 29, 2021
Fun fact- in Polish language we also have a metallic element that's a slang word for police officers but it's aluminium (usually used in plural).
SplashNBlast
+3
Level 19
Jun 24, 2022
Uhhhhh uhh uhh I don't know.
HyddenRizz
+2
Level 67
May 10, 2023
Like these a lot.

"Teenager who assists at Congress" - this is very odd, I got it purely from the other clue, but I assume this apes on the phrase "page boy" - better clues here maybe relating to a medieval era or weddings.

wesichi
+1
Level 34
Aug 8, 2023
what even is a cad. search it up and i only find computer aided design
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 75
Aug 8, 2023
a rake
partdavid
+1
Level 72
Aug 8, 2023
Had fun with the quiz!

I didn't really like "bear", it feels off when you proffer a synonym that's just "a thing" and "the same thing but referred to metaphorically". I'm not trying to point out some technicality, it just feels off, as it seems like a different usage rather than a different definition.

And it's kind of strange for bear since it has such better, more well-known double meaning, to give birth or to carry, and the animal.

rocamorar
+2
Level 78
Aug 9, 2023
"Teenager who assists at Congress" is not a great clue, and it only works for the US Congress. I think that at least the clue should be modified to reflect that, although, I believe it would be better to refer to the more widespread use with something like "young boy that assists a noble".
mal
+1
Level 63
Aug 9, 2023
got them all but kept thinking of clock for timepiece one as that works for both meanings. :-)
Canuckquizzer1981
+1
Level 64
Aug 11, 2023
Wouldn't "shower" work for type of rain/praise?
BowieBoi
+1
Level 45
Aug 11, 2023
Coppas be the oppas
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