29 Word & English Riddles With Answers
These riddles are about words as objects: how they are spelled, what letters they contain, what happens when you remove one. The answer is often a word rather than a thing.
They are the best riddles for a literacy lesson, because solving one requires thinking about spelling and letter patterns rather than meaning.
Every riddle has its answer on the page, with an explanation of the letter trick involved.
How can the number four be half of five?
The letters 'IV' are half of the four letters in the word 'FIVE.'
What word in the dictionary is always spelled incorrectly?
The word 'incorrectly' is always spelled I-N-C-O-R-R-E-C-T-L-Y.
I am the beginning of the end, and the end of time and space.
The letter 'e' is the start of the word 'end' and the last letter of 'time' and 'space.'
What begins with ?e,? ends with ?e,? but only contains one letter?
An envelope is a paper container that holds a 'letter' of mail.
What is 73? chicken, 32? cat and 42? goat?
Taking parts of the words: CHI-cken, CA-t, and GO-at spells Chicago.
Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not.
'Ton' is a unit of heavy weight; spelled backward it is 'not.'
First 2 letters = male, first 3 = female, first 4 = great man, whole word = great woman.
The words are 'He', 'Her', 'Hero', and 'Heroine.'
What English word has three consecutive double letters?
"Bookkeeper" contains oo, kk, and ee back to back, three double letters in a row.
What does man love more than life, hate more than death or mortal strife; that which contented men desire; the poor have, the rich require; the miser spends, the spendthrift saves, and all men carry to their graves?
It's the absolute lack of anything.
I have lakes with no water, mountains with no stone and cities with no buildings. What am I?
It is a symbolic representation of the earth's surface.
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?
It's a box used for burying the deceased.
What goes through cities and fields, but never moves?
It's a paved surface used for travel between locations.
What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks?
Day 'breaks' at dawn and night 'falls' at dusk.
What word in the English language does the following: The first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four letters signify a great, while the entire world signifies a great woman. What is the word?
Break the word down step by step: 'he,' 'her,' 'hero,' and finally the whole word 'heroine.'
I am a word that begins with the letter "i". If you add the letter "a" to me, I become a new word with a different meaning, but that sounds exactly the same. What word am I?
An 'isle' is an island, while an 'aisle' is a passage between rows.
What word is pronounced the same if you take away four of its five letters?
The letters following 'Q' are all silent in the pronunciation.
What is the end of everything?
The word "everything" literally ends with the letter G -- a classic letter riddle rather than a philosophical one.
What word of five letters has one left when two are removed?
Remove the first two letters 'st' and you are left with the word 'one'.
I am a word of letters three; add two and fewer there will be. What word am I?
Adding 'er' to 'few' creates a word meaning a smaller number.
What is $3/7$ chicken, $2/3$ cat and $2/4$ goat?
Take parts of the names: Chi(cken), Ca(t), Go(at).
Forward I am heavy, but backward I am not. What am I?
If you read the word 'ton' from right to left, it spells 'not'.
What 4-letter word can be written forward, backward or upside down, and can still be read from left to right?
The specific symmetry of these letters allows them to be read the same way.
I am the beginning of everything, the end of everywhere. I'm the beginning of eternity, the end of time and space. What am I?
This riddle focuses on the literal spelling of the words mentioned.
Two in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter. What is it?
Check the spelling of 'corner', 'room', and 'shelter'.
You see me once in June, twice in November and not at all in May. What am I?
Count the number of times the letter 'e' appears in each word.
What would you find in the middle of Toronto?
Look closely at the letters in the name of the city.
A word I know, six letters it contains, remove one letter and 12 remains. What is it?
The word 'dozens' refers to multiple sets of 12.
What begins with an "e" and only contains one letter?
It's a paper container for a letter sent via post.
What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Adding the suffix 'er' to the word makes it the word 'shorter'.
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