Food Riddles
Hi! I am Ollie. Welcome to Riddle Kingdom!
Every riddle here is also a level in the Kingdom. Solve them on the map, keep your lives, earn stars and raise a landmark with each one. Good luck, and have fun!
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Hungry for a puzzle? This set mixes food riddles for kids with fruit and vegetable riddles, cheesy puns and a few emoji snacks. Guess each answer out loud, then tap the card to see if you nailed it.
Browse all the puzzles on this page ▾
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1. Throw away my outside and cook my inside. Then eat my outside and throw away my inside. What am I? Hard
Need a hint?
You shuck it, boil it, then nibble around the middle.
Show answer
Corn on the cob.
You toss the husk, cook the ear, eat the kernels, then toss the cob.
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2. I'm yellow, I wear my skin like a jacket, and monkeys go bananas for me. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A banana.
Yellow jacket skin plus monkeys going bananas point straight at a banana.
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3. What has eyes but cannot see? Easy
Show answer
A potato.
Classic pun on potato eyes, the sprouting buds that cannot actually see.
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4. Cut me and you'll cry, even though I never hurt you on purpose. What am I? Easy
Show answer
An onion.
Cutting it makes you cry from the fumes, the giveaway for an onion.
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5. I wear a crown but I'm not a king, and there's a pine in my name but I'm not a tree. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A pineapple.
A leafy crown plus the pine hidden inside pineapple names the fruit.
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6. I'm green on the outside, red on the inside, and I spit out little black seeds. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A watermelon.
Green rind, red flesh, and spat black seeds describe a watermelon exactly.
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7. I'm full of holes, yet mice adore me. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Swiss cheese.
Full of holes plus mice loving it points to Swiss cheese.
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8. Bees make me, bears raid me, and I can sit in your pantry for years without spoiling. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Honey.
Bees make it, bears raid it, and it never spoils, so honey.
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9. I'm green, I get mashed into a party dip, and I hide a giant pit in my middle. What am I? Easy
Show answer
An avocado.
Green, mashed into dip, with a giant pit means an avocado for guacamole.
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10. I'm a fruit that's also a color. What am I? Easy
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An orange.
A fruit that shares its name with a color is an orange.
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11. I wear a shiny red coat and carry a stone for a heart. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A cherry.
A shiny red coat and a stone heart describe the cherry's skin and pit.
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12. I have a head but no brain, and cooks break me into cloves. What am I? Medium
Show answer
Garlic.
A head with no brain broken into cloves is the giveaway for garlic.
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13. I'm long and orange, I grow underground, and rabbits dig me. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A carrot.
Long, orange, underground, loved by rabbits all clearly name a carrot.
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14. I start out green, turn red in the sun, and people argue about whether I'm a fruit or a vegetable. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A tomato.
The fruit or vegetable argument plus green-to-red ripening names a tomato.
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15. What did the grape do when it got stepped on? Medium
Show answer
It let out a little whine.
Wordplay on wine sounding like whine after the grape is squished.
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16. I'm a stick of bread from France, nearly as long as your arm. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A baguette.
A long French bread stick nearly arm length describes a baguette.
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17. I'm twisted, salty, and tied up like a knot you can eat. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A pretzel.
Twisted, salty, and knotted like edible rope points to a pretzel.
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18. Why did the cookie go to the doctor? Medium
Show answer
It was feeling crummy.
Pun where feeling crummy means both sad and covered in crumbs.
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19. I'm the only fruit that wears my seeds on the outside. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A strawberry.
Wearing seeds on the outside is the famous strawberry trait.
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20. I pop when I get hot, and movie night isn't the same without me. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Popcorn.
Popping when hot and starring at movie night names popcorn.
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21. What cheese is made backward? Hard
Need a hint?
Spell it in reverse.
Show answer
Edam.
Edam spelled backward reads made, so the cheese is literally made backward.
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22. I hide a little golden sun inside a fragile white shell. What am I? Medium
Show answer
An egg.
A golden yolk sun inside a fragile white shell describes an egg.
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23. I get tossed in the air, dressed in red sauce, and sliced into triangles. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A pizza.
Tossed dough, red sauce, and triangle slices all name pizza.
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24. I'm cold, I come in scoops, and I live in a cone. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Ice cream.
Cold scoops living in a cone point directly to ice cream.
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25. Squirrels bury me for later, and you need a cracker to open me. What am I? Medium
Need a hint?
A walnut is one kind.
Show answer
A nut.
Squirrels bury it and a cracker splits the hard shell, so it is a nut.
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26. I'm the plump young twin of a raisin, before all the wrinkles. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A grape.
The plump young twin of a raisin before wrinkles is a grape.
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27. I'm the vegetable that looks like a tiny green tree. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Broccoli.
Looking like a tiny green tree is the well-known broccoli clue.
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28. I'm a fruit, but say two of me out loud and I become a matching set. What am I? Medium
Two of a kind make a pair, which sounds exactly like pear.
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29. I'm a soup that's served cold on purpose. Which am I? Medium
Gazpacho is a Spanish tomato soup that's meant to be eaten chilled.
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30. What should you give a lemon that's feeling sick? Medium
Lemon aid, naturally. It works every time.
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31. What's the strongest vegetable in the garden? Medium
It's a muscle sprout, of course.
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32. Which food is always telling jokes? Easy
Corn can't help it. Everything it says is a little corny.
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33. 🥜 + 🧈 Easy
Need a hint?
It sticks to the roof of your mouth and loves jelly.
Show answer
Peanut butter (peanut + butter).
Peanut plus butter emojis combine directly into peanut butter.
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34. 🍎 + 🥧 Easy
Need a hint?
Grandma bakes it, and it smells like cinnamon.
Show answer
Apple pie (apple + pie).
Apple plus pie emojis add up to apple pie plainly.
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35. 🔥 + 🐶 Easy
Need a hint?
It comes in a bun at the ballpark. No actual dogs involved.
Show answer
A hot dog (hot + dog).
Fire meaning hot plus dog emoji spells out hot dog.
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36. 🥕 + 🍰 Easy
Need a hint?
A vegetable hiding in a dessert.
Show answer
Carrot cake (carrot + cake).
Carrot plus cake emojis combine straight into carrot cake.
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37. I'm an orange vegetable that turns into a coach in fairy tales. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A pumpkin
An orange vegetable that becomes a coach in fairy tales is a pumpkin.
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38. I'm a breakfast food that gets flipped in the pan. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A pancake
A breakfast food flipped in the pan is a pancake.
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39. A tomato is botanically a fruit. Medium
It grows from a flower and holds seeds, which makes it a fruit to botanists.
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40. Peanuts grow on trees. Medium
Peanuts grow underground. They're legumes, closer to peas than to tree nuts.
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41. I come from a cow, I turn your cereal into breakfast, and I leave a little mustache on your lip. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Milk.
From a cow, poured on cereal, leaving a lip mustache means milk.
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42. I grow in the dark and the damp, I wear a cap but have no head, and some of my cousins are best left alone in the woods. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A mushroom.
It grows in the damp, has a cap but no head, and toxic wild cousins, so mushroom.
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43. I share my name with a car that never runs right, and one squeeze of me can pucker your whole face. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A lemon.
Sharing its name with an unreliable car plus puckering sourness names a lemon.
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44. I began life as a cucumber, then took a long soak in a salty, sour bath. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A pickle.
A cucumber soaked in salty sour brine becomes a pickle.
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45. I'm soft and white and squishy, but hold me over a campfire and I turn golden and gooey. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A marshmallow.
Soft white and squishy turning gooey over a campfire means a marshmallow.
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46. I'm rice and fish rolled up in a sheet of seaweed, and I sailed to your plate all the way from Japan. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Sushi.
Rice and fish rolled in seaweed from Japan describes sushi.
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47. I'm cooked in an iron, my whole body is little square pockets, and each pocket holds a puddle of syrup. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A waffle.
Cooked in an iron with syrup-holding square pockets names a waffle.
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48. I sizzle and pop in a hot pan, I come from a pig, and I make the whole kitchen smell like breakfast. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Bacon.
Sizzling pork that smells like breakfast points to bacon.
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49. I start out as a bitter little bean, but I melt into something sweet right in your warm hand. What am I? Medium
Show answer
Chocolate.
A bitter bean melting sweet in your warm hand describes chocolate.
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50. I'm fuzzy on the outside, sweet and dripping inside, and I hide a wrinkly stone at my very center. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A peach.
Fuzzy skin, sweet flesh, and a wrinkly stone center name a peach.
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51. I'm round and sweet, I take a swim in the hot fryer, and I have a hole right where my belly should be. What am I? Easy
Show answer
A doughnut.
Round, fried, and holed in the belly clearly means a doughnut.
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52. I'm a bundle of long thin strings, I go slurp when you eat me, and meatballs are my best friends. What am I? Easy
Show answer
Spaghetti.
Long thin slurped strings befriending meatballs describe spaghetti.
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53. Two slices of bread hug my filling, and I'm named after an English earl who refused to leave his card game to eat. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A sandwich.
Bread hugging a filling named for the Earl of Sandwich gives sandwich.
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54. Crack me open at the very end of your meal, and you'll find a tiny message about your future tucked inside. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A fortune cookie.
A treat cracked open to reveal a future message is a fortune cookie.
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55. I'm a folded shell stuffed with meat, cheese, and lettuce, and there is a whole day of the week named in my honor. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A taco.
A folded shell plus the day Taco Tuesday both point to a taco.
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56. How do you fix a broken pizza? Medium
Show answer
With tomato paste.
Pun where tomato paste fixes a broken pizza like glue paste.
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57. I'm long, green, and crunchy, and calm people are said to be as cool as me. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A cucumber.
Being as cool as a cucumber names this calm, crunchy green vegetable.
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58. The more I work at drying your dishes, the wetter I become. What am I? Medium
Show answer
A dish towel.
A dish towel gets wetter the more dishes it dries.
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59. I'm a tiny green herb, but say my name aloud and I'm what every clock keeps track of. What am I? Hard
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Thyme.
Thyme sounds exactly like time, which is what a clock keeps.
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60. I belong to the onion family and grow in long white stalks, yet my name sounds like what a dripping faucet does. What am I? Hard
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A leek.
Leek sounds like leak, what a dripping faucet does.
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61. I'm a deep red root that stains your fingers, and my name sounds like the steady rhythm a drummer keeps. What am I? Hard
Show answer
A beet.
Beet sounds like beat, the rhythm a drummer keeps.
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62. I'm a tiny dried berry baked into scones, and my name sounds like the electricity flowing through a wire. What am I? Hard
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A currant.
Currant sounds like current, the electricity moving through a wire.
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63. I'm the soft powder at the heart of every loaf, and my name sounds like something that blooms in a garden. What am I? Hard
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Flour.
Flour sounds like flower, which blooms in a garden.
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64. I'm the crisp green base of a salad, and split in two my name sounds like a polite way to say allow us. What am I? Hard
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Lettuce.
Lettuce sounds like let us, a polite way to say allow us.
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65. I'm a round orange melon, and my name sounds like a couple who cannot run off to get married. What am I? Hard
Show answer
A cantaloupe.
Cantaloupe sounds like can't elope, a couple who cannot run off to marry.
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66. I'm a pale crunchy stalk you dip in ranch, and my name sounds like the paycheck you earn at a job. What am I? Hard
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Celery.
Celery sounds like salary, the paycheck you earn at work.
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67. I'm the little hard seed hiding at the center of popcorn, and my name sounds like a high rank in the army. What am I? Hard
Show answer
A kernel.
Kernel sounds like colonel, a high army rank.
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68. What do you call cheese that does not belong to you? Hard
Show answer
Nacho cheese.
Nacho sounds like not yours, so cheese that is not yours is nacho cheese.
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69. I'm a soft, pillowy flatbread from India, and my name sounds like the word for not any at all. What am I? Hard
Show answer
Naan.
Naan sounds like none, meaning not any at all.
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70. I'm a soft purple fruit packed with tiny seeds, and someone who does not care at all will not give a single one of me. What am I? Hard
Show answer
A fig.
Not giving a fig is a saying for not caring, which names the fruit.
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71. I'm a round white and purple root, and my name sounds like what you do when you finally arrive at a party. What am I? Hard
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A turnip.
Turnip sounds like turn up, what you do when you arrive somewhere.
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72. I'm a dark, dense sandwich bread, and my name sounds like a crooked little half smile. What am I? Hard
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Rye bread.
Rye sounds like wry, a crooked little smile.
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73. I'm a kitchen tool covered in sharp little holes for shredding cheese, and my name sounds like better than all the rest. What am I? Hard
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A grater.
Grater sounds like greater, meaning better than the rest.
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74. I'm a loop of wire you use to beat eggs into a froth, and my name sounds like taking a daring chance. What am I? Hard
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A whisk.
Whisk sounds like risk, taking a daring chance.
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75. I'm a deep, round pan built for stir fry, and my name sounds like what you do on a slow evening stroll. What am I? Hard
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A wok.
Wok sounds like walk, what you do on a stroll.
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76. The mustard sped ahead, so the slow red bottle was told to hurry and do this. Which condiment am I? Hard
Show answer
Ketchup.
Catch up sounds like ketchup, what the slow bottle had to do.
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77. I'm a small salty fruit that tops a pizza or a martini, and my name sounds like the start of I love you. What am I? Hard
Show answer
An olive.
Olive sounds like I love, the start of I love you.
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78. Cowboys eat me from a can by the campfire, and to spill me is to give away a secret. What am I? Hard
Show answer
Beans.
Spill the beans means to reveal a secret, which names the campfire food.
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79. You buy me so you can eat, yet you never actually eat me, and I get washed the moment dinner ends. What am I? Hard
Show answer
A plate.
You buy a plate to eat from but never eat it, and it gets washed after dinner.
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80. I have a sharp tongue but never say a word, and no cook can slice an onion without me. What am I? Hard
Show answer
A knife.
A knife has a sharp blade like a sharp tongue and does the kitchen slicing.
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81. I'm a leafy green with bright rainbow stems, and my name sounds like what a steak looks like when you burn it. What am I? Hard
Show answer
Chard.
Chard sounds like charred, what a badly burnt steak becomes.
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82. What do you call a noodle that is only pretending to be one? Hard
Show answer
An impasta.
Impasta sounds like impostor, a fake pretending to be the real thing.
Easy food riddles for kids
Bananas in jackets, onions that make you cry, corn with ears. Most of these are pitched so kids can shout the answer at the dinner table.
Fruit and vegetable riddles
A big slice of the list describes produce in sneaky ways. If you know your way around a grocery store, you have every clue you need.
Food riddles with answers plus a quiz twist
Multiple choice cards, emoji snack puzzles, type the answer challenges and two true or false food facts round out the menu.
Your score
FAQ about Food Riddles
Are these food riddles suitable for kids?
Yes, the whole set is family friendly. Most riddles are easy enough for elementary school kids, and the trickier ones just take a second look. Adults tend to get caught by the true or false food facts.
How do the answers work?
Guess first, then tap the card to flip it and see the answer. A few cards ask you to type your guess or pick from four choices instead. The score bar counts your correct answers as you go.
Can I use these riddles for a classroom lesson about food?
They work well as a warm up or a reward at the end of a nutrition unit. Read the fruit and vegetable riddles aloud and let students guess before you reveal. The true or false cards spark good little debates.
If these had your stomach rumbling, keep the fun going with our "What Am I?" riddles, where plenty of tasty treats are hiding in plain sight. Then switch things up and decode some picture clues over at our rebus puzzle collection.