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Riddles & Brain Teasers Quiz Worksheet

QUIZLINO
Set 1 · Mixed
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Choose the best answer for each question. The answer key is on the last page.

  1. How can you add eight 8s to get the number 1,000?
    A. 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 B. 88 + 88 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 C. 8888 − 888 D. 888 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8 + 8
  2. Which word contains all 26 letters?
    A. Alphabet B. Dictionary C. Encyclopedia D. Language
  3. What is the first number, counting up, whose English spelling contains the letter 'a' (written without the word 'and')?
    A. One hundred B. Eighty C. One thousand D. Eleven
  4. What can fill a room but takes up no physical space?
    A. Smoke B. Light C. Air D. Sound
  5. What has one head, one foot, and four legs?
    A. A bed B. A chair C. A table D. A horse
  6. A man looks at a photo and says, "Brothers and sisters I have none, but that man's father is my father's son." Who is in the photo?
    A. His father B. Himself C. His son D. His uncle
  7. How can a man go eight days without sleep?
    A. He sleeps at night B. He drinks lots of coffee C. He takes naps D. He uses medication
  8. What is easy to get into but hard to get out of?
    A. Trouble B. A pool C. Debt D. A maze
  9. In a race, you overtake the person in second place. What place are you in now?
    A. Second B. First C. Third D. Last
  10. A man walks into a bar and asks for a glass of water. The bartender points a gun at him, and the man says thank you and leaves. Why?
    A. He had hiccups and the shock cured them B. It was a robbery and he escaped C. The bartender was joking D. He won a bet
  11. Which word in the dictionary is spelled wrong in every single dictionary?
    A. "Wrong" B. "Error" C. "Mistake" D. "Typo"
  12. What kind of key opens a banana?
    A. A skeleton key B. A monkey C. A car key D. A master key
  13. What has cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and rivers but no water?
    A. A dream B. A map C. A painting D. A globe
  14. What word, if pronounced correctly, is wrong, but if pronounced incorrectly, is right?
    A. "Wrong" B. "Right" C. "Correct" D. "Mistake"
  15. What has a bed but never sleeps in it?
    A. A river B. A hotel C. A hospital D. A garden
  16. How many times can you subtract 10 from 100?
    A. 10 times B. 9 times C. Once D. Infinitely
  17. What can you keep even after giving it to someone else?
    A. Your word B. A gift C. A secret D. Advice
  18. What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
    A. A clock B. A doll C. A statue D. A robot
  19. Which vegetable has eyes but cannot see?
    A. A carrot B. An onion C. A tomato D. A potato
  20. You enter a dark room with one match. There is a candle, an oil lamp and a gas stove. What do you light first?
    A. The candle B. The oil lamp C. The match D. The gas stove
Free printable worksheet from quizlino.com · Play this topic online: quizlino.com/category.php?id=29

Answer key – Riddles & Brain Teasers (Set 1)

  1. A. 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 – 888 + 88 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 1,000, using exactly eight 8s. It is a popular puzzle for practising place value and addition. Similar puzzles ask for making 1,000 or 100 from other repeated digits.
  2. A. Alphabet – The word 'alphabet' 'contains' all 26 letters because the alphabet is made of all 26 letters. It does not literally spell them. The riddle plays on the meaning of the word rather than its spelling.
  3. C. One thousand – When written without 'and', no number from one to nine hundred ninety-nine contains the letter 'a'. 'One thousand' is the first. In British English, people say 'one hundred and one', which would include an 'a'.
  4. B. Light – Light can fill a room but takes up no physical space. Light is made of photons, which have no mass. Air and smoke take up space because they are made of particles. Sound also takes no space, but it needs air to travel through.
  5. A. A bed – A bed has one head (where you lay your head), one foot (the end where your feet go) and four legs. The riddle uses body-part words for parts of furniture. Beds have been used for thousands of years; ancient Egyptians had raised wooden beds.
  6. C. His son – The man is looking at a photo of his son. Since he has no brothers or sisters, 'my father's son' must be himself. So the man in the photo's father is the speaker, making the man in the photo his son. This famous riddle often confuses people for a while.
  7. A. He sleeps at night – A man can go eight days without sleep because he sleeps at night, not during the day. The riddle uses 'days' to mean daytime. Sleeping only at night is perfectly normal.
  8. A. Trouble – Trouble is easy to get into but hard to get out of. The riddle uses 'get into' to mean become involved in. Debt can also fit this description, but trouble is the classic answer. A maze is hard to get out of too, but it is not always easy to enter.
  9. A. Second – You are in second place. If you overtake the person in second, you take their place, and they become third. Many people answer 'first', but you would need to overtake the leader to be first.
  10. A. He had hiccups and the shock cured them – The man had hiccups, and the bartender scared him by pointing a gun, which shocked his hiccups away. That is why he said thank you and left. This is a 'lateral thinking' puzzle, where you think creatively about hidden facts.
  11. A. "Wrong" – The word 'wrong' is spelled W-R-O-N-G in every dictionary, so it is always spelled 'wrong'. The riddle plays on the word being both the answer and the description. Riddles that refer to words themselves are called self-referential.
  12. B. A monkey – A 'monkey' opens a banana, as the word contains 'key'. It is a pun riddle popular with children. Interestingly, monkeys often peel bananas from the bottom end, which many people find easier too.
  13. B. A map – A map has cities with no houses, forests with no trees and rivers with no water, because it only shows symbols and names. Maps have been made for thousands of years; one of the oldest known is a Babylonian clay tablet from around 600 BC.
  14. A. "Wrong" – The word 'wrong' is pronounced correctly as 'wrong', and if you pronounce it wrongly, you are 'right' in describing what you did. It is a playful language paradox. Such word puzzles are popular in English classes.
  15. A. A river – A river has a 'bed', the ground it flows over, but never sleeps in it. The riddle plays on 'bed' as both furniture and the bottom of a river. Rivers also have 'mouths' where they meet the sea.
  16. C. Once – You can subtract 10 from 100 only once, because after that, you are subtracting from 90, not 100. The riddle plays on the exact wording of the question.
  17. A. Your word – You can keep your word (your promise) even after giving it to someone. 'Giving your word' means making a promise, and 'keeping your word' means honouring it. Trust is built by keeping your word.
  18. A. A clock – A clock has a 'face' (its dial) and 'hands' that point to the hours and minutes, but no arms or legs. Riddles often use words for body parts that also describe objects. The phrase 'face of a clock' has been used in English for centuries.
  19. D. A potato – A potato has 'eyes', small buds on its skin from which new shoots grow, but it cannot see. Planting a piece of potato with an eye can grow a new plant. Potatoes came to India from South America via the Portuguese.
  20. C. The match – You must light the match first before you can light anything else. The riddle distracts you with a choice between a candle, lamp and stove. Matches with safety heads were developed in Sweden in the 1840s.