Riddles about things around the house
Objects you touch every day are the hardest to name once the riddle takes their name away. Start here — these warm everyone up.
Q1.I have a face, but can't smile; I have two hands, but can't hold anything. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: clock
Q2.I get wetter as I make something dry. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: towel
Q3.I am full of holes, yet I can hold water. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: sponge
Q4.I have teeth but never eat; I help hair look tidy. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: comb
Q5.I swallow boiling water whole, and pour it out before it’s cold. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: teapot
Q6.I have a frame but no picture. I let you see outside without going out. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: window
Q7.I spend my sunny days hiding in a dark closet, but I stand proudly above your head when the sky starts to cry. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: umbrella
Q8.I am the only heater that requires no fuel, no electricity, and no match to keep you safe from the frost. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: blanket
Q9.I dance only when you are messy, and sleep standing up in a corner. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: broom
Q10.I fasten a coat but have no fingers. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: button
Q11.I get stepped on all day long, but I never complain or get angry. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: carpet
Q12.I am pulled to the side when the show begins, and drawn together when the day ends. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: curtain
Q13.I have a handle but I am not a mug, and a lock but I am not a safe. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: door
Q14.I have five rooms but no doors; I keep one hand warm. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: glove
Q15.I am always hitting things on the head, but I never get into trouble for it. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: hammer
Q16.I help others reach the top without moving. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: ladder
Q17.I return every face, yet I have none of my own. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: mirror
Q18.I rest beneath your head, but I never sleep. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: pillow
Q19.The more I work, the less I become; I die in water, but I save you from dirt. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: soap
Q20.I carry food but never taste it. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: spoon
Q21.I have legs but do not walk; meals often happen on me. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: table
Q22.I become shorter every time I give light. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: candle
Q23.I have a neck but no head, and I can hold a drink. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: bottle
Q24.I have one eye but cannot look around; thread follows me. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: needle
Q25.I am a long, skinny string that loves to follow a sharp needle wherever it goes. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: thread
Q26.I leave marks but cannot speak. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: pencil
Q27.I twist, tie, and pull, but I am not alive. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: rope
Q28.It is only as strong as its weakest part. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: chain
Q29.I catch fish without hands, and hang by a thread over watery lands. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: hook
Q30.I am full of holes, yet I hold what swims. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: net
Q31.I have four sides and hold a picture still. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: frame
Q32.I carry a bright head but I can not think; water defeats me. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: torch
Q33.I swallow fire to give you light, and I love to go camping at night. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: lantern
Q34.I have a tongue but never taste; I speak when struck. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: bell
Q35.I have leaves but i am not a tree. I do not have a voice but I tell you stories. I have a spine but I am not a man. What am i?Tap to reveal
Answer: book
Q36.I contain roads, rivers, and cities, yet nothing in me can move. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: map
Riddles about nature, weather and the sky
These trade on scale: something enormous described in the voice of something small, or the other way round.
Q1.I follow you in daylight but vanish in darkness. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: shadow
Q2.I have many colours but no paint; I appear when light meets rain. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: rainbow
Q3.I run all day and night across the land but I do not have any legs. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: river
Q4.I change shape every night, though nothing has taken a piece of me. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: moon
Q5.I arrive every morning, but I never wake up. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: sun
Q6.I am made of tiny stones, yet I feel soft under bare feet. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: sand
Q7.I am larger than any lake and sea; waves travel across me. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: ocean
Q8.I am surrounded by water, but I am not a boat. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: island
Q9.I have no door, yet you can enter me; the deeper you go, the darker I become. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: cave
Q10.I spend my youth dressed in green; I turn into gold before I die. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: leaf
Q11.I am a gift that grows before it is given. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: flower
Q12.I am water that has forgotten how to flow. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: ice
Q13.Push me down and I will jump. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: spring
Q14.I have no voice, but I can roar; I have no tears, but I can pour. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: storm
Q15.I cannot speak until you do, and I only say the exact words you just said. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: echo
Q16.I am born on a bird, live in a pillow, and write history when dipped in ink. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: feather
Q17.I grow from a trunk but am not a leaf. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: branch
Q18.I am round and full of air, but a single touch may end me. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: bubble
Q19.I rise from fire but cannot stay in one shape. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: smoke
Q20.I start as a blossom and grow small and round, hanging from bushes or low to the ground. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: berry
Animal riddles
Every animal riddle hides its clue in one habit or one body part. Listen for the verb, not the adjective.
Q1.I am a golden cat with a roar that shakes the safari. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: lion
Q2.I look like a horse dressed up in a prisoner's uniform. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: zebra
Q3.I wear iron shoes but I never wear socks. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: horse
Q4.I have long ears and wear a coat that changes with the winter. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: rabbit
Q5.I carry my house while moving very slowly. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: snail
Q6.I have no legs, no eyes, and no bones, but I can easily move through dirt and stones. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: worm
Q7.We march in a line without any drums, building underground cities and hunting for crumbs. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: ant
Q8.I carry my home on my back, but I am not a snail. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: turtle
Q9.I hide a pearl inside a rough shell. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: oyster
Q10.I help birds soar and airplanes glide, always in pairs, side by side. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: wing
Food and kitchen riddles
Good ones for a family table, because everyone at it has already met the answer.
Q1.I am yellow, sour, and grow on a tree. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: lemon
Q2.I am green outside, red inside, and full of seeds. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: melon
Q3.I am born in a field, raised in a bowl, killed in an oven, and buried in your stomach. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: bread
Q4.I am made from milk, but I am not a drink. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: cheese
Q5.I can be soft, hard, fortune-telling, or digital, but I always crumble when things go wrong. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: cookie
Q6.I am a bear's favorite gold. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: honey
Q7.I am a snowman’s nose in the winter, and a rabbit's breakfast in the spring. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: carrot
Q8.I make you cry before you have eaten me. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: onion
Q9.I grow underground, but I am not a root; you always put me in the food. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: potato
Riddles from castles, magic and adventure
The storybook set. These land best with a younger room, and they are the ones people remember afterwards.
Q1.I am a small wooden stick that can turn a pumpkin into a carriage with a single flick. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: wand
Q2.I am a magical liquid brewed in a cauldron that can grant superpowers with a single sip. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: potion
Q3.Children build me out of wet sand on the beach, but kings build me out of stone. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: castle
Q4.I have wings and a tail, but no feathers; my breath is feared. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: dragon
Q5.With a staff in my hand and a wise owl on my shoulder, I mix magic in the high tower. Who am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: wizard
Q6.I love black cats, green skin, warts on my nose, and stirring magic in my cauldron. Who am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: witch
Q7.A horse is my closest kin, but one detail makes me a legend. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: unicorn
Q8.I hunt on a blue highway, fly a flag of bones, and bury my wealth in the sand. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: pirate
Q9.I have a frame but hold no picture. I have a lock but guard no chest. I break the fence so you may pass. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: gate
Q10.I fly without wings, but only after I am released. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: arrow
Q11.I bend but I do not break, and I have a string but make no music. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: bow
Q12.I am hard, bright, and made under great pressure. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: diamond
Q13.No matter how long and dark I get, there is always a light waiting at my end. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: tunnel
Q14.I only appear when someone wants to disappear. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: mask
Riddles about things people made
Tools, instruments and structures — a riddle describes what a thing does, and you work backwards to what it is.
Q1.I have wings but cannot fly; I turn when wind finds me. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: windmill
Q2.I stretch across rivers and valleys to connect two sides that cannot touch. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: bridge
Q3.I can pull things toward me without ever touching them. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: magnet
Q4.I am full of horses but I have never stepped foot on a farm. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: engine
Q5.I am a path for smoke but never for people, sitting right on top of the house. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: chimney
Q6.If you follow me, you will walk forever and never arrive anywhere. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: circle
Q7.I have two arms, zero legs, and I never speak, yet I will tell you exactly how heavy you are. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: scale
Q8.I am full of holes, yet I can hold a beautiful tune without spilling a drop. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: flute
Q9.I am made of wood, have strings, and make music when bowed. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: violin
Q10.I don’t swim, yet I’m found in the sea, helping ships stay where they need to be. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: anchor
Q11.I have two faces but I never tell a lie, and I am passed from hand to hand until I die. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: coin
Q12.I wave in the wind but never say hello. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: flag
Q13.I have a head and a blade, but I never shave. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: axe
Q14.I have a wooden belly but I have no feet, I roll down the dock and hold what you drink. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: barrel
Q15.I float, but I am not a leaf; I carry people, but I am not a bridge. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: boat
Q16.I am born from mud and baked in fire, yet I am used to keep out the rain. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: brick
Q17.The more of me you have, the less time you have left to spend. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: age
More "What am I?" riddles
A last mixed round with no theme to give the answer away.
Q1.The more you feed me breath, the bigger I grow, but give me a single prick and away I go. What am I?Tap to reveal
Answer: balloon
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a "What am I?" riddle?
A riddle written in the first person, where an object describes itself using clues that are literally true but deliberately misleading. The answer is almost always a single common noun.
How do you make a riddle harder without making it unfair?
Remove a clue rather than adding an obscure one. A hard riddle should still be solvable from what it says; if it needs knowledge the listener has not got, it stopped being a riddle and became a trivia question.
What age are these suitable for?
The household, animal and food sections work from about six upward. The magic and made-things sections suit older children and adults, mainly because the clues rely on knowing how an object is used.
Can I use these in a classroom or at a party?
Yes. Use the print button at the top of the page to get a clean worksheet, or the version with the answer key if you are the one reading them out.
