Inference practice
Players must combine every clue instead of matching a single keyword to an answer.
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Read each set of clues, picture the possibilities and make your best guess. These what-am-I riddles range from quick family and classroom wins to genuine stumpers for adults.
Make them useful
Players must combine every clue instead of matching a single keyword to an answer.
Read clues one at a time and ask solvers to revise their ideas as new evidence appears.
The familiar format works well at home, in class or at parties with almost no setup.
Concrete object riddles can work from age 5 with an adult reader. Longer clues, metaphor and wordplay are best for confident readers aged 8+ through adulthood.
Read, guess, reveal
I have hands but I cannot clap. What am I?
The answer is
A clock
What has many keys but cannot open a single lock?
The answer is
A piano
I speak without a mouth and answer without ears. I have no body, but repeat what you say. What am I?
The answer is
An echo
What gets wetter the more it dries?
The answer is
A towel
I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and water but no fish. What am I?
The answer is
A map
I tell stories but never speak. I have a spine but no bones. What am I?
The answer is
A book
I am tall when I am young and short when I am old. What am I?
The answer is
A candle
What has one eye but cannot see?
The answer is
A needle
What has lots of teeth but cannot bite?
The answer is
A comb
What travels around the world while staying in one corner?
The answer is
A stamp
What has a neck but no head?
The answer is
A bottle
What runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks?
The answer is
A river
I follow you in daylight but disappear in the dark. What am I?
The answer is
Your shadow
What is full of holes but still holds water?
The answer is
A sponge
What has four fingers and a thumb but is not alive?
The answer is
A glove
What has a tongue but cannot talk?
The answer is
A shoe
I have whiskers, soft paws and a purr. What am I?
The answer is
A cat
I move slowly and carry my house on my back. What am I?
The answer is
A snail
I hop on two strong legs and carry my baby in a pocket. What am I?
The answer is
A kangaroo
I have eight arms but never wear sleeves. What am I?
The answer is
An octopus
I buzz from flower to flower and make something sweet. What am I?
The answer is
A bee
I begin life in water, then grow legs and croak. What am I?
The answer is
A frog
I have a hard home, a slow walk and no front door. What am I?
The answer is
A turtle
I wear a yellow jacket that you peel before eating. What am I?
The answer is
A banana
I am a fruit and a color, and my name is the same for both. What am I?
The answer is
An orange
I start small and quiet, then burst into a fluffy snack. What am I?
The answer is
Popcorn
I am cold, sweet and disappear if you leave me in the sun. What am I?
The answer is
Ice cream
I am orange with green hair, and rabbits think I am delicious. What am I?
The answer is
A carrot
I have many eyes but cannot see. I grow underground. What am I?
The answer is
A potato
I am green outside, red inside and full of black seeds. What am I?
The answer is
A watermelon
I float in the sky and sometimes cry, but I have no eyes. What am I?
The answer is
A cloud
I paint the sky with many colors but never use a brush. What am I?
The answer is
A rainbow
My rings tell my age, but I never wear jewelry. What am I?
The answer is
A tree
I seem to change shape through the month, but I stay round. What am I?
The answer is
The moon
I am a tiny winter star that melts in your hand. What am I?
The answer is
A snowflake
I look like a mountain, but sometimes I roar and spill glowing rock. What am I?
The answer is
A volcano
You cannot see me, but you can feel me push your kite. What am I?
The answer is
The wind
I have a head and a foot but no body. I am made of rock. What am I?
The answer is
A mountain
We appear when the sun goes away, but we are not light switches. What are we?
The answer is
Stars
I can pull metal toward me, but I have no hands. What am I?
The answer is
A magnet
I can be a solid, liquid or gas, but I am always the same thing. What am I?
The answer is
Water
I travel faster than anything else and help your eyes see. What am I?
The answer is
Light
I am in the air, invisible, and your body needs me every moment. What am I?
The answer is
Oxygen
I am green in winter, covered in lights and gifts gather below me. What am I?
The answer is
A Christmas tree
I hang by the fireplace and wait to be filled. What am I?
The answer is
A Christmas stocking
I have a carrot nose, coal buttons and no legs. What am I?
The answer is
A snowman
I have an orange face, a glowing smile and no teeth. What am I?
The answer is
A jack-o’-lantern
I fly at night and sometimes sleep upside down. What am I?
The answer is
A bat
I gobble, have feathers and often appear at a November feast. What am I?
The answer is
A turkey
I am round, sliced and filled with a favorite orange fall flavor. What am I?
The answer is
Pumpkin pie
I look like a horn overflowing with fruit and vegetables. What am I?
The answer is
A cornucopia
I wear a colorful shell and hide in the grass for children to find. What am I?
The answer is
An Easter egg
I have long ears and deliver springtime baskets. What am I?
The answer is
The Easter Bunny
The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?
The answer is
Footsteps
I form a ring without making a sound, and people look up when I appear. What am I?
The answer is
A halo around the moon.
I can tell you it is late without showing numbers, hands, or light. What am I?
The answer is
A yawn.
What box gets lighter as you use what is inside it?
The answer is
A matchbox after you strike the matches.
What mountain can fit in your pocket but is too sharp to climb?
The answer is
A pencil tip.
What bridge can carry a friendship but not a footstep?
The answer is
Trust.
What can reflect the past in your mind but never show you the future?
The answer is
A memory.
I can race across a page, but I have no legs and never leave the paper. What am I?
The answer is
A line drawn by a pen.
What library gets bigger every time you forget to write something down?
The answer is
Your memory.
What shadow can arrive before the object that makes it?
The answer is
A warning sign.
What garden can grow on a fridge?
The answer is
A magnet collection.
What question hides its answer inside itself?
The answer is
A riddle.
What ladder helps you rise but has no rungs?
The answer is
A plan.
What train can go around all day without ever leaving the room?
The answer is
A toy train.
What cloud can you fold, carry, and lose in your bag?
The answer is
A tissue.
In what race does the last person win by staying behind?
The answer is
A queue.
What room gets smaller every time more people enter it?
The answer is
Personal space.
What book writes about you without holding a pen?
The answer is
A diary app or activity log.
What lamp makes a room darker when you turn it on?
The answer is
A lamp in a photo editing app using a dark filter.
What puzzle has no pieces until someone explains the problem?
The answer is
A mystery.
What map changes every day even when it stays on the same wall?
The answer is
A calendar.
What coin can help you decide but cannot buy anything?
The answer is
A decision coin.
What wall can you scroll but never climb?
The answer is
A social media wall or feed.
What kind of star is awarded when people judge something?
The answer is
A review rating.
What paper can cut through silence without making a sound?
The answer is
A note.
What hat helps a group think, even when nobody wears it?
The answer is
A thinking hat.
What key can lock you out if you forget it?
The answer is
A password.
What window can show yesterday but never lets in air?
The answer is
A photo gallery window on a screen.
What line can create a crowd without drawing anything?
The answer is
A queue line.
What fire can cool tempers instead of heating them?
The answer is
A fire drill.
What empty cup can fill a whole room?
The answer is
A cup used as a speaker or echo toy.
What pencil never writes, no matter how sharp it is?
The answer is
A pencil drawing.
What bird can sit on your screen all day and never fly away?
The answer is
A cursor shaped like a bird.
What crown has no king, no queen, and no jewels?
The answer is
The crown of your head.
What home can fit on a key but has no rooms?
The answer is
The word Home on a keyboard key.
What cake tells you how old someone is?
The answer is
A birthday cake.
What forest has no trees but can still be full of branches?
The answer is
A family tree.
What shoe never walks, even when it has a sole?
The answer is
A horseshoe.
What sound can you see but not hear?
The answer is
A sound wave on a screen.
What bag gets smaller every time you use it?
The answer is
A tea bag.
What moon can you eat before it becomes full?
The answer is
A crescent roll.
What flag never flies but can still warn you?
The answer is
A red flag in a message or situation.
What cup holds no drink but can still decide a winner?
The answer is
A trophy cup.
What star is easiest to see after the lights go out?
The answer is
A glow-in-the-dark star.
What clock runs on sand but never needs batteries?
The answer is
An hourglass.
What window opens a world but is not made of glass?
The answer is
A browser window.
What blanket can cover a whole town but weighs almost nothing?
The answer is
Fog.
What ticket can take you nowhere but still let you escape?
The answer is
A book ticket or library card.
What key opens a song but not a door?
The answer is
A musical key.
What circle starts a game but is not drawn with a pencil?
The answer is
A kickoff circle or centre circle.
What castle falls when someone breathes too hard?
The answer is
A house of cards.
What tooth bites paper but never chews?
The answer is
A stapler tooth.
What pocket cannot hold money but can trap air underwater?
The answer is
A pocket of air.
What button makes things stop instead of start?
The answer is
A pause button.
What page turns itself without hands?
The answer is
A webpage that auto-refreshes.
What bell can wake you up but has no metal?
The answer is
A phone alarm.
What mountain gets smaller on a sunny day?
The answer is
A pile of snow.
What box shows you the outside world while you stay indoors?
The answer is
A television.
What letter can travel around the world without an envelope?
The answer is
The letter in an email.
I get shorter every time I do my best work. What am I?
The answer is
A pencil
What animal carries its home like a backpack but never packs a suitcase?
The answer is
A turtle
I am round, sweet, and sometimes I hide a message inside. What am I?
The answer is
A fortune cookie
I disappear from the table fastest, even though nobody chases me. What am I?
The answer is
Pie
I arrive before the party guests and tell them where to go. What am I?
The answer is
The invitation
I have pages but never read a word. What am I?
The answer is
A notebook
I light up the night but I do not need a plug. What am I?
The answer is
The moon
Two doors have two guards. One guard always lies, the other always tells the truth, and one door leads out. You may ask either guard one question. What do you ask?
The answer is
Ask, “Would the other guard say this is the exit?” then choose the opposite door.
I am made of gas, wrapped in liquid, and I pop when I get too bold. What am I?
The answer is
A bubble
I am small enough for your pocket, but I can show you the whole world. What am I?
The answer is
A phone
Three cups sit in a row. The first two are full and the third is empty. How can you make them alternate full, empty, full by touching only one cup?
The answer is
Pour the second cup into the third cup.
I am red, sweet, and grow on a plant. I wear tiny seeds on the outside. What am I?
The answer is
A strawberry
I sing at night, jump in the grass, and rub my legs to make music. What am I?
The answer is
A cricket
I hide a present but make it look better. What am I?
The answer is
Wrapping paper
I am hidden in grass, painted in colors, and usually not from a chicken. What am I?
The answer is
An Easter egg
I am full of air, but one tiny poke can ruin my whole day. What am I?
The answer is
A balloon
I follow you in sunlight, vanish in darkness, and copy your shape without touching you. What am I?
The answer is
A shadow
What wears a silver coat after the rain but owns no clothes?
The answer is
A leaf
I come after night and before breakfast. What am I?
The answer is
Morning
I help mistakes disappear, but I make crumbs when I work. What am I?
The answer is
An eraser
I can see over the crowd without standing on a chair. What am I?
The answer is
A giraffe
What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a day?
The answer is
The letter M
I have a crust but I am not the Earth. I can be sliced but I do not bleed. What am I?
The answer is
A pizza
I can pull some metals closer, but I never use my hands. What am I?
The answer is
A magnet
I sit at the top but I do not climb. I shine without being the sun. What am I?
The answer is
A Christmas tree star
I am carried by a handle, filled with treats, and searched through after a hunt. What am I?
The answer is
An Easter basket
I make people move, but I never touch them. What am I?
The answer is
Music
You can feel me, hear me, and see what I move, but you cannot hold me. What am I?
The answer is
Wind
I wear black and white, waddle around, and look dressed for dinner. What am I?
The answer is
A penguin
I can be shuffled, picked, passed around, and answered out loud. What am I?
The answer is
A riddle card
Shout one word into a tunnel and I return that word late, weaker, and with no idea what it means. What am I?
The answer is
An echo
The more kitchens copy me, the more meals I can make; hide me in a drawer and I feed nobody. What am I?
The answer is
A recipe
A simple group format
Helpful answers
Earn points, build a streak and see how many clues you can solve without using a hint.