Looking for a fun way to challenge your teen’s brain power? Test them with riddles! We’ve put together a massive list of riddles for teens that you can use for entertainment or conversation starters. While you’ve probably already heard a couple of the riddles in our list, there is no chance you’ve heard of all 100 of them! We kept our list of riddles fun and easy, so they are perfect for middle schoolers as well as high schoolers. Whether you’re a teacher looking to stump their students or a parent looking for some fun with their teen, our list of riddles is guaranteed to bring some chuckles!
100 Riddles for Teens
- The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Footsteps. - What can travel around the world while staying in the same spot?
A stamp. - I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with the wind. What am I?
An echo. - What has keys but can’t open locks?
A piano. - I’m tall when I’m young, and I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle. - What has many needles but doesn’t sew?
A Christmas tree. - What can you hold in your left hand but not in your right?
Your right elbow. - What building has the most stories?
The library - The more of this there is, the less you see. What is it?
Darkness. - What has to be broken before you can use it?
An egg. - What comes down but never goes up?
Rain. - What is brown and sticky?
A stick - What can be cracked, made, told, and played?
A joke. - What begins with an “E,” ends with an “E,” but only contains one letter?
An envelope. - What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, and has a bed but never sleeps?
A river. - What has a heart that doesn’t beat?
An artichoke. - What has hands but can’t clap?
A clock. - What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel. - What has one eye but can’t see?
A needle. - I’m not alive, but I can grow. I don’t have lungs, but I need air. What am I?
Fire. - What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
The letter “M.” - What has a neck but no head?
A bottle. - I am full of holes, but I can still hold water. What am I?
A sponge. - What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Short. - What word is spelled incorrectly in every dictionary?
Incorrectly. - What has one head, one foot, and four legs?
A bed. - What belongs to you, but other people use it more than you do?
Your name. - What goes up but never comes down?
Your age. - The more you take away from me, the bigger I get. What am I?
A hole. - What has four wheels and flies?
A garbage truck. - What can fill a room but takes up no space?
Light. - I’m light as a feather, yet the strongest person can’t hold me for five minutes. What am I?
Your breath. - What has cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and rivers but no water?
A map. - What’s so fragile that saying its name breaks it?
Silence. - What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
The future. - If you drop me, I’m sure to crack, but give me a smile and I’ll always smile back. What am I?
A mirror. - What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
A penny. - What’s black and white and read all over?
A newspaper. - I am an odd number. Take away one letter and I become even. What number am I?
Seven. - What has roots that nobody sees, is taller than trees, up, up it goes, and yet never grows?
A mountain. - The more you have of it, the more it weighs. What is it?
Worry. - Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I?
A ton. - What has a ring but no finger?
A telephone. - What comes once in a year, twice in a month, four times in a week, and six times in a day?
The letter “E.” - 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?
Pencil lead. - What can fly without wings?
Time. - What is it that lives if it is fed, and dies if you give it a drink?
Fire. - What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
A clock. - What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it?
A teapot. - What gets sharper the more you use it?
Your brain. - Why don’t seagulls fly over the bay?
Because then they’d be bagels! - What has four fingers and a thumb but isn’t alive?
A glove. - What type of dog never bites?
A hotdog. - What has ears but cannot hear?
Corn. - What has words but never speaks?
A book. - What can you catch but not throw?
A cold. - I fly without wings, I cry without eyes. Whenever I go, darkness flies. What am I?
A cloud. - What comes up but never comes down?
Smoke. - What has no beginning, end, or middle?
A doughnut. - What begins with P, ends with E, and has thousands of letters?
The post office. - What do you call a bear with no teeth?
A gummy bear - What has a tongue but cannot talk?
A shoe. - What invention lets you look right through a wall?
A window. - What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Frostbite. - What can you hold without touching?
A conversation. - What is white when dirty and black when clean?
A chalkboard. - What runs but never gets tired?
A refrigerator. - Why did the bicycle fall over?
Because it was two-tired - What is harder to catch the faster you run?
Your breath. - What is always coming but never arrives?
Tomorrow. - What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?
A human (crawls as a baby, walks on two legs, uses a cane in old age). - I go in hard, come out soft, and never mind if you blow me. What am I?
Chewing gum. - What’s bright when you’re on it but dark when you’re off?
A lightbulb. - If two’s company and three’s a crowd, what are four and five?
Nine. - What can you hold in your right hand, but not in your left hand?
Your left hand. - What kind of room has no doors or windows?
A mushroom. - What has legs but doesn’t walk?
A table. - What goes through cities and fields but never moves?
A road. - What has many teeth but can’t bite?
A comb. - Where does today come before yesterday?
The dictionary - I have keys but no locks. I have space but no room. You can enter, but you can’t go inside. What am I?
A keyboard. - What has a bark, but no bite?
A tree. - I get smaller every time I take a bath. What am I?
Soap. - What goes up and down, but never moves?
A staircase. - I can be as small as a pea or as large as a mountain. I can be shaped by the wind, but I can never fly. What am I?
A dune. - What month of the year has 28 days?
All of them - What has four legs, a back, but can’t walk?
A chair. - What can be touched but can’t be seen?
Someone’s heart. - What can you break without touching it?
A promise. - I have branches, but no fruit, trunk, or leaves. What am I?
A bank. - I’m found in socks, scarves, and mittens, and often in the paws of playful kittens. What am I?
Yarn. - I am easy to lift, but hard to throw. What am I?
A feather. - What has four eyes but can’t see?
Mississippi. - What has 13 hearts, but no organs?
A deck of cards. - I go in dry and come out wet. The longer I’m in, the stronger I get. What am I?
A tea bag. - Why are fish so easy to weigh?
Because they come with their own scales. - What goes up when the rain comes down?
An umbrella. - I am an instrument that you can hear, but you cannot touch or see me. What am I?
Your voice. - I can fill a room or just one heart. Others can have me, but I can’t be shared. What am I?
Loneliness. - I am a word that looks the same upside down and backward. What am I?
Noon.
How to get better at solving riddles
Getting good at solving riddles takes time and practice, but there are some strategies that can help. The more riddles you solve, the better you’ll get at spotting patterns and figuring out tricky answers. Our list of riddles for teens is a great place to practice! When you approach a riddle, try to think creatively and look at it from different angles. Many riddles use words with double meanings, so it’s helpful to consider all possible interpretations. You should also break the riddle down into smaller parts to better understand it. Look for hidden clues in the wording, as these can often point you in the right direction. Learning common riddle patterns, like puns or wordplay, can also give you an edge. Riddles are meant to be challenging, so don’t get discouraged if the answer doesn’t come right away. With practice and these tips, you’ll improve over time.