Riddles are a fun and timeless way to challenge your mind and entertain friends. From simple puns to tricky brain teasers, riddles offer a perfect mix of humor and logic.
Whether you’re looking to stump someone or impress them with your wit, this list of 345 riddles is sure to deliver hours of fun.
Classic Brain Teasers
- What has keys but can’t open locks?
Answer: A piano. - The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Answer: Footsteps. - What has to be broken before you can use it?
Answer: An egg. - I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have nobody, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?
Answer: An echo. - What can travel around the world while staying in the same corner?
Answer: A stamp. - I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle. - What gets wetter as it dries?
Answer: A towel. - What has a heart that doesn’t beat?
Answer: An artichoke. - The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it?
Answer: Darkness. - What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Answer: Light. - What runs, but never walks?
Answer: A river. - What can you catch but not throw?
Answer: A cold. - What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
Answer: A teapot. - What has one eye but can’t see?
Answer: A needle. - What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle.
Animal Riddles
- I have wings, I’m small, but I can make a big buzz. What am I?
Answer: A bee. - What animal can jump higher than a house?
Answer: Any animal, because houses can’t jump. - What has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?
Answer: A human (Crawling as a baby, walking as an adult, and using a cane in old age). - I have a tail, but I’m not a cat. I love cheese but I’m not a mouse. What am I?
Answer: A rat. - What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age. - What animal is always at a baseball game?
Answer: A bat. - What kind of lion never roars?
Answer: A dandelion. - Why do birds fly south in the winter?
Answer: Because it’s too far to walk. - What is black, white, and red all over?
Answer: A sunburnt penguin. - What’s smarter than a talking cat?
Answer: A spelling bee. - What do you call a cow with no legs?
Answer: Ground beef. - Why don’t crabs give to charity?
Answer: Because they’re shellfish. - I’m light as a feather, yet the strongest man can’t hold me for more than a minute. What am I?
Answer: Breath. - What do you get when you cross a snowman and a dog?
Answer: Frostbite. - What kind of dog has no tail?
Answer: A hot dog.
Funny Riddles
- Why did the tomato turn red?
Answer: Because it saw the salad dressing. - What has a bottom at the top?
Answer: Your legs. - Why don’t skeletons fight each other?
Answer: They don’t have the guts. - Why was the math book sad?
Answer: It had too many problems. - What’s orange and sounds like a parrot?
Answer: A carrot. - Why can’t you give Elsa a balloon?
Answer: Because she’ll let it go. - What kind of tree fits in your hand?
Answer: A palm tree. - Why do cows wear bells?
Answer: Because their horns don’t work. - Why did the scarecrow win an award?
Answer: He was outstanding in his field. - What kind of room has no doors or windows?
Answer: A mushroom. - Why don’t eggs tell jokes?
Answer: Because they might crack up. - What has teeth but can’t bite?
Answer: A comb. - Why did the golfer bring two pairs of pants?
Answer: In case he got a hole in one. - What gets bigger the more you take away?
Answer: A hole. - Why was the broom late?
Answer: It swept in late.
Wordplay Riddles
- What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M. - I’m an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What am I?
Answer: Seven. - What 5-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Answer: Short. - What word is spelled incorrectly in every dictionary?
Answer: Incorrectly. - What begins with E, ends with E, but only has one letter?
Answer: An envelope. - The more you have of me, the less you see. What am I?
Answer: Fog. - What’s always in front of you but can’t be seen?
Answer: The future. - What has six faces, but does not wear makeup, and twenty-one eyes, but cannot see?
Answer: A dice. - What comes down but never goes up?
Answer: Rain. - I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map. - What gets sharper the more you use it?
Answer: Your brain. - What has legs but doesn’t walk?
Answer: A table. - What English word has three consecutive double letters?
Answer: Bookkeeper. - What word starts with T, ends with T, and is full of T?
Answer: A teapot. - What’s full of holes but still holds water?
Answer: A sponge.
Math Riddles
- I add five to nine and get two. The answer is correct, but how?
Answer: When it’s on a clock. - How do you make the number one disappear?
Answer: Add a G and it’s gone. - If two’s company and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Answer: Nine. - What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Answer: Silence. - What comes after a million, billion, and trillion?
Answer: A quadrillion. - What three positive numbers give the same result when multiplied and added together?
Answer: 1, 2, and 3. - What has 13 hearts but no organs?
Answer: A deck of cards. - If you multiply this number by any other number, the answer will always be the same. What number is it?
Answer: Zero. - What can you hold in your left hand, but not in your right hand?
Answer: Your right elbow. - What weighs more—a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks?
Answer: They weigh the same. - If a rooster lays an egg on top of a barn, which side will it roll down?
Answer: Roosters don’t lay eggs. - What goes through cities and fields, but never moves?
Answer: A road. - Two fathers and two sons go fishing. Each catches one fish, yet only three fish are caught. How is this possible?
Answer: They are a grandfather, father, and son. - What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock. - A man gave one son 10 cents and another son was given 15 cents. What time is it?
Answer: 1:45. (A quarter to two.)
Runners-Up Riddles
- The more you take, the more you leave behind.
Answer: Footsteps. - What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?
Answer: A river. - The person who makes it, sells it. The person who buys it never uses it. The person who uses it never knows they’re using it. What is it?
Answer: A coffin. - What has 88 keys but can’t open a single door?
Answer: A piano. - How far can you walk into the woods?
Answer: Halfway. After that, you’re walking out of the woods. - I’m tall when I’m young, and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle. - If I have it, I don’t share it. If I share it, I don’t have it. What is it?
Answer: A secret. - What can be swallowed, but can also swallow you?
Answer: Pride. - What belongs to you, but other people use it more than you?
Answer: Your name. - I am always hungry, I must always be fed. The finger I touch, will soon turn red. What am I?
Answer: Fire. - What has four eyes but can’t see?
Answer: Mississippi. - What can fly without wings?
Answer: Time. - I have no life, but I can die. What am I?
Answer: A battery. - What begins with P, ends with E, and has thousands of letters?
Answer: The post office. - What has a head, a tail, but no body?
Answer: A coin.
Random Bonus Riddles
- What has to be broken before you can use it?
Answer: An egg. - I’m tall when I’m young, and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle. - What month of the year has 28 days?
Answer: All of them. - What is full of holes but still holds water?
Answer: A sponge. - What question can you never answer yes to?
Answer: Are you asleep yet? - What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
Answer: The future. - There’s a one-story house in which everything is yellow. Yellow walls, yellow doors, yellow furniture. What color are the stairs?
Answer: There aren’t any—it’s a one-story house. - What can you break, even if you never pick it up or touch it?
Answer: A promise. - What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age. - A man who was outside in the rain without an umbrella or hat didn’t get a single hair on his head wet. Why?
Answer: He was bald. - What gets wet while drying?
Answer: A towel. - What can you keep after giving to someone?
Answer: Your word. - I shave every day, but my beard stays the same. What am I?
Answer: A barber. - You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, but when you look again you don’t see a single person on the boat. Why?
Answer: All the people were married. - What has a head, a tail, but no body?
Answer: A coin. - The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it?
Answer: Darkness. - David’s parents have three sons: Snap, Crackle, and what’s the name of the third son?
Answer: David. - I’m light as a feather, yet the strongest man can’t hold me for more than 5 minutes. What am I?
Answer: Breath. - What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Answer: Silence. - The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Answer: Footsteps. - What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?
Answer: A river. - What can’t talk but will reply when spoken to?
Answer: An echo. - The person who makes it has no need of it; the person who buys it has no use for it. The person who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?
Answer: A coffin. - You measure my life in hours and I serve you by expiring. I’m quick when I’m thin and slow when I’m fat. The wind is my enemy. What am I?
Answer: A candle. - I have branches, but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I?
Answer: A bank. - What can’t be put in a saucepan?
Answer: Its lid. - The more you have of me, the less you see. What am I?
Answer: Fog. - What has many keys but can’t open a single lock?
Answer: A piano. - What is black when it’s clean and white when it’s dirty?
Answer: A chalkboard. - What gets bigger when more is taken away?
Answer: A hole. - I’m found in socks, scarves, and mittens; and often in the paws of playful kittens. What am I?
Answer: Yarn. - Where does today come before yesterday?
Answer: The dictionary. - What invention lets you look right through a wall?
Answer: A window. - If you’re running in a race and you pass the person in second place, what place are you in?
Answer: Second place. - What can’t talk but will reply when spoken to?
Answer: An echo. - What has ten letters and starts with gas?
Answer: An automobile. - The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Answer: Footsteps. - What kind of tree can you carry in your hand?
Answer: A palm. - What has one eye but can’t see?
Answer: A needle. - If you drop me I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I?
Answer: A mirror. - What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock. - What has legs but doesn’t walk?
Answer: A table. - If two’s company, and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Answer: Nine. - What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Answer: Short. - What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
Answer: A teapot. - What has lots of eyes, but can’t see?
Answer: A potato. - What has words, but never speaks?
Answer: A book. - What runs all around a backyard, yet never moves?
Answer: A fence. - What can travel around the world while staying in the same corner?
Answer: A stamp. - What has a thumb and four fingers, but is not a hand?
Answer: A glove. - What has one head, one foot, and four legs?
Answer: A bed. - What has many needles, but doesn’t sew?
Answer: A Christmas tree. - What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M. - What has keys but can’t open locks?
Answer: A piano. - What can you catch, but not throw?
Answer: A cold. - What has a ring but no finger?
Answer: A phone. - What is white when it’s dirty and black when it’s clean?
Answer: A chalkboard. - What starts with P, ends with E, and has thousands of letters?
Answer: The post office. - What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle. - What can run but never walks?
Answer: A river. - What has a bottom at the top?
Answer: Your legs. - What begins with an E but only has one letter?
Answer: An envelope. - I go in hard, come out soft, and I never mind if you blow me. What am I?
Answer: Bubblegum. - What’s always running but never gets anywhere?
Answer: A refrigerator. - What kind of room has no doors or windows?
Answer: A mushroom. - I’m not alive, but I can grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air. What am I?
Answer: Fire. - What flies without wings?
Answer: Time. - What has teeth but can’t bite?
Answer: A comb. - What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Answer: Light. - What has 13 hearts, but no other organs?
Answer: A deck of cards. - What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock. - If there are three apples and you take away two, how many do you have?
Answer: Two (because you took them). - What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age. - What can you hold in your right hand but never in your left?
Answer: Your left elbow. - What word is spelled incorrectly in every dictionary?
Answer: Incorrectly. - The more you have, the less you see. What am I?
Answer: Darkness. - I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains, but no trees. I have water, but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map. - What has ears but cannot hear?
Answer: Corn. - What is black and white and read all over?
Answer: A newspaper. - What gets sharper the more you use it?
Answer: Your brain. - What comes down but never goes up?
Answer: Rain. - What goes through cities and fields but never moves?
Answer: A road. - If I drink, I die. If I eat, I am fine. What am I?
Answer: Fire. - What runs but never walks, murmurs but never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?
Answer: A river. - What gets bigger when more is taken away?
Answer: A hole. - What has 88 keys but can’t open a single door?
Answer: A piano. - What’s black and white and blue all over?
Answer: A bruised zebra. - I have keys but no locks. I have space but no room. You can enter, but you can’t go outside. What am I?
Answer: A keyboard. - What can go up a chimney down, but not down a chimney up?
Answer: An umbrella. - What has six faces, but does not wear makeup, has twenty-one eyes, but cannot see?
Answer: A die (dice). - What comes after a million, billion, and trillion?
Answer: A quadrillion. - What English word has three consecutive double letters?
Answer: Bookkeeper. - What is light as a feather, yet the strongest man cannot hold it for more than a minute?
Answer: Breath. - What has ears but cannot hear?
Answer: A cornfield. - What gets sharper the more you use it?
Answer: A brain. - What has a bed but does not sleep, a mouth but never eats?
Answer: A river. - What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
Answer: The future. - What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M. - What has one eye but cannot see?
Answer: A needle. - What has four fingers and a thumb, but is not living?
Answer: A glove. - I have keys but no locks. I have space but no room. You can enter, but you can’t go outside. What am I?
- Answer: A keyboard.
- What has four wheels and flies?
Answer: A garbage truck. - The more you take from me, the bigger I get. What am I?
Answer: A hole. - What has one head, one foot, and four legs?
Answer: A bed. - What has six legs but can’t walk?
Answer: A table. - What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
Answer: A penny. - What has to be given before it can be taken?
Answer: Permission. - I am an odd number. Take away one letter, and I become even. What number am I?
Answer: Seven. - What can fill a room, but takes up no space?
Answer: Light. - What word is spelled the same forwards, backwards, and upside down?
Answer: Noon. - What has four fingers and a thumb, but isn’t alive?
Answer: A glove. - What has 13 hearts, but no lungs or stomach?
Answer: A deck of cards. - If you drop me I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I?
Answer: A mirror. - What is something that you can keep after giving it to someone?
Answer: Your word. - What can you hold without touching it at all?
Answer: A conversation. - What has cities, but no houses; forests, but no trees; and rivers, but no water?
Answer: A map. - What has one eye but can’t see?
Answer: A needle. - What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
Answer: A teapot. - What comes down but never goes up?
Answer: Rain. - I am taken from a mine and shut up in a wooden case, from which I am never released, and yet I am used by almost every person. What am I?
Answer: Pencil lead. - I’m not alive, but I can grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air. What am I?
Answer: Fire. - What kind of coat is always wet when you put it on?
Answer: A coat of paint. - What belongs to you, but other people use it more than you?
Answer: Your name. - I run, but I never walk. I have a bed, but I never sleep. I have a mouth, but I never eat. What am I?
Answer: A river. - What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock. - What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M. - The more you have of me, the less you see. What am I?
Answer: Darkness. - What has teeth but can’t bite?
Answer: A comb. - What can you catch but not throw?
Answer: A cold. - I am light as a feather, yet the strongest man can’t hold me for much more than a minute. What am I?
Answer: Breath. - I have no life, but I can die. What am I?
Answer: A battery. - What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks?
Answer: A river. - What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Answer: Silence. - I’m tall when I’m young, and short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle. - What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
Answer: The future. - What has many keys but can’t open a single lock?
Answer: A piano. - What has one eye but cannot see?
Answer: A needle. - What starts with an E, ends with an E, but only has one letter in it?
Answer: An envelope. - What has a ring but no finger?
Answer: A phone. - What gets bigger when more is taken away?
Answer: A hole. - What flies without wings?
Answer: Time. - What has a face and two hands, but no arms or legs?
Answer: A clock. - What has an eye but cannot see?
Answer: A needle. - What begins with an E but only contains one letter?
Answer: An envelope. - What has a head, a tail, but no body?
Answer: A coin. - What runs but never walks?
Answer: A faucet. - What has cities, but no houses; forests, but no trees; and rivers, but no water?
Answer: A map. - What can go up a chimney down, but can’t go down a chimney up?
Answer: An umbrella. - What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle. - What has ears but cannot hear?
Answer: Corn. - What is white when dirty and black when clean?
Answer: A chalkboard. - What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter M. - What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
Answer: A teapot. - What is full of holes but still holds water?
Answer: A sponge. - What is always running but never gets anywhere?
Answer: A refrigerator. - What kind of room has no doors or windows?
Answer: A mushroom. - What is black and white and red all over?
Answer: A newspaper. - What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle. - I’m light as a feather, yet the strongest man can’t hold me for more than five minutes. What am I?
Answer: Breath. - What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks?
Answer: A river. - What has many needles, but doesn’t sew?
Answer: A Christmas tree. - What can be swallowed, but can also swallow you?
Answer: Pride. - What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Answer: Short. - What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock. - What can go up a chimney down but can’t go down a chimney up?
Answer: An umbrella. - What has a thumb and four fingers, but is not alive?
Answer: A glove. - What runs all around a backyard, yet never moves?
Answer: A fence. - What can be touched but can’t be seen?
Answer: Someone’s heart. - What has cities but no houses, mountains but no trees, and water but no fish?
Answer: A map. - I’m tall when I’m young, and short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle. - What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
Answer: A clock. - What has ears but cannot hear?
Answer: A cornfield. - What flies without wings?
Answer: Time. - What has four wheels and flies?
Answer: A garbage truck. - What has words but never speaks?
Answer: A book. - What gets sharper the more you use it?
Answer: Your brain. - What has 13 hearts but no other organs?
Answer: A deck of cards. - What has a ring but no finger?
Answer: A telephone. - What belongs to you, but others use it more than you do?
Answer: Your name. - What’s full of holes but still holds water?
Answer: A sponge. - What flies without wings?
Answer: Time. - What can you hold without ever touching it?
Answer: A conversation. - What has a bottom at the top?
Answer: Your legs. - What word is spelled the same forward and backward?
Answer: Racecar. - What can run but never walks, has a bed but never sleeps?
Answer: A river. - What has teeth but doesn’t bite?
Answer: A comb. - What gets wetter as it dries?
Answer: A towel. - What goes up but never comes down?
Answer: Your age. - What has 88 keys but can’t open a single door?
Answer: A piano. - What begins with P, ends with E, and has thousands of letters?
Answer: A post office. - What has four fingers and a thumb, but is not a hand?
Answer: A glove. - What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Answer: Light. - What’s full of holes but still holds water?
Answer: A sponge. - What gets smaller when you turn it upside down?
Answer: The number 9. - What comes down but never goes up?
Answer: Rain. - What word begins with an “e” and only contains one letter?
Answer: Envelope. - What has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?
Answer: A human. - What comes after Tuesday and before Thursday?
Answer: Wednesday. - What goes around the world but stays in one spot?
Answer: A stamp. - What has one eye but can’t see?
Answer: A needle.