Riddles for Teens
Teens can smell a baby riddle a mile away, so this page skips straight to the good stuff. Funny tricks sit up top, with hard riddles for teens further down, plus plenty that work as riddles for high school students. Guess first, then tap to see the answer.
Funny riddles for teens
The opening cards are lateral thinking tricks with a punchline, like the bankrupt man pushing his car to a hotel.
Hard riddles for high school students
Further down, the misdirection gets sharper. These are the ones to pull out when someone claims the page is easy.
Interactive challenges to finish
The last stretch swaps reveal cards for multiple choice, type your answer, true or false, and two emoji puzzles.
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1. A man pushes his car to a hotel and tells the owner he's bankrupt. Why?
Need a hint?
The car is tiny and made of metal.
Show answer
He's playing Monopoly.
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2. You see a boat filled with people, yet there isn't a single person on board. How?
Need a hint?
Read 'single' again.
Show answer
Everyone on the boat is married.
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3. I am a maze no one can walk through, yet point a camera at me and I take you somewhere new. What am I?
Need a hint?
You've probably scanned one on a menu or a poster.
Show answer
A QR code.
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4. A woman shoots her husband, then holds him underwater for five minutes, then hangs him. Ten minutes later they go out for dinner together. How?
Need a hint?
Nobody gets hurt in this one.
Show answer
She's a photographer. She shot his picture, developed it in liquid, and hung it up to dry.
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5. What breaks but never falls, and what falls but never breaks?
Show answer
Day breaks and night falls.
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6. I am a number, but put a single letter in front of me and I become nothing at all. What number am I?
Need a hint?
Spell it out, then find a letter that erases everything.
Show answer
One. Put an N in front and it turns into 'none.'
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7. What can you keep even after giving it to someone else?
Show answer
Your word.
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8. Three doctors all say Robert is their brother. Robert says he has no brothers. Who is lying?
Show answer
No one. The three doctors are his sisters.
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9. What can go up and down without ever moving?
Show answer
The temperature.
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10. A man dies of old age on his 25th birthday. How is that possible?
Need a hint?
Think about the calendar, not the man.
Show answer
He was born on February 29th. His birthday only came around once every four years.
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11. What has thousands of needles but never sews a stitch?
Show answer
A pine tree.
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12. What invention lets people walk through walls?
Show answer
A door.
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13. There are two of me in a corner, one in a room, zero in a house, but one in a shelter. What am I?
Need a hint?
Stop picturing buildings. Look at the spelling.
Show answer
The letter R.
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14. I have branches, yet no fruit, trunk, or leaves. What am I?
Show answer
A bank.
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15. What kind of coat goes on best when it's wet?
Show answer
A coat of paint.
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16. A girl fell off a 20-foot ladder and didn't get hurt at all. How?
Show answer
She fell off the bottom rung.
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17. Drop my first letter and you hear with me. Drop my last letter and you drink me. Keep all four and I fall when you cry. What am I?
Need a hint?
Split the word, not the meaning.
Show answer
A tear. It hides both 'ear' and 'tea.'
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18. First you eat me, then you get eaten. What am I?
Need a hint?
Think like a fish.
Show answer
A fishhook.
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19. What tastes better than it smells?
Show answer
A tongue.
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20. What has one head, one foot, and four legs?
Show answer
A bed.
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21. People pay me to poke around inside their mouths, and I still tell them to smile on the way out. Who am I?
Show answer
A dentist.
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22. I keep my fizz locked under a cap, and if you shake me before you open me, I lose my temper everywhere. What am I?
Show answer
A soda bottle.
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23. The more of it there is, the less you see. What is it?
Show answer
Darkness.
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24. A truck driver goes the wrong way down a one-way street past ten police officers. None of them stops him. Why?
Need a hint?
Job titles can be misleading.
Show answer
He's walking.
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25. What occurs once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in one thousand years?
Show answer
The letter M.
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26. What loses its head every morning and gets it back every night?
Show answer
A pillow.
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27. Which room in the house do ghosts avoid?
Show answer
The living room.
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28. What can't be put in a saucepan, no matter how big the pan is?
Show answer
Its own lid.
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29. Turn me upside down and I am suddenly worth half again as much. What number am I?
Need a hint?
Write it as a digit, then rotate the page.
Show answer
Six. Flip it over and it becomes nine.
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30. Nobody wants me, but nobody wants to lose me either. What am I?
Show answer
A lawsuit.
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31. What do you throw out when you want to use it, and take in when you're done with it?
Show answer
An anchor.
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32. What word carries KST in the middle, IN at the beginning, and AND at the end?
Need a hint?
Stop hunting for hidden meanings. Read the clues as spelling instructions.
Show answer
Inkstand. The riddle spells it out in three pieces.
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33. An electric train travels south at 100 mph while the wind blows north. Which way does the smoke drift?
Electric trains don't make smoke. The speeds are pure distraction.
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34. Sarah has 4 sisters and 3 brothers. How many sisters does her brother Sam have?
Sam's sisters are Sarah plus her 4 sisters. That makes 5.
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35. A bat and a ball cost $1.10 together. The bat costs exactly $1 more than the ball. How much is the ball?
If the ball were 10 cents, the bat would be $1.10 and the total $1.20. Ball 5 cents, bat $1.05, total $1.10.
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36. It took 8 workers 10 hours to build a wall. How long would it take 4 workers to build the same wall?
No time at all. The wall is already built. Read the first three words again.
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37. You're in a race and you overtake the runner in last place. Where are you now?
If they're truly in last place, there's nobody behind them, so you couldn't have been behind them to overtake.
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38. What common English word has three consecutive double letters?
Show answer
Bookkeeper
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39. What is at the end of a rainbow?
Show answer
The letter W
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40. One short word can go in front of 'work', 'house', and 'fly' to make three new words. What is it?
Show answer
Fire
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41. I am the beginning of the end and the end of time and space. What am I?
Show answer
The letter E
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42. The same month can have two Friday the 13ths.
False. A month has exactly one 13th, so it can land on a Friday only once. Two different months in the same year can each have one, though.
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43. The word SWIMS looks the same when you turn it upside down.
True. Rotate it 180 degrees and S-W-I-M-S still reads SWIMS. Try writing it out.
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44. 🍞 + 🏆
Need a hint?
What does the trophy stand for?
Show answer
Breadwinner (bread + a winner's trophy).
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45. 🕛 + 🌙
Need a hint?
Check what time the clock shows.
Show answer
Midnight (12 on the clock + night).
Your score
FAQ about Riddles for Teens
Are these riddles actually hard enough for teens?
The early ones are warmups, but the lower half trips up plenty of adults. The trick questions punish assumptions, and everyone makes assumptions.
Can I play this page as a quiz?
Yes. Zen mode runs every card as an untimed quiz, and Blitz turns the page into a 60 second arcade sprint with a score to beat.
What are riddles for teens good for?
Icebreakers, road trips, and sleepovers. They work best read aloud, so everyone can argue about the answer before the reveal.
Younger siblings hovering nearby? Send them to Riddles for Middle Schoolers. And if your crew likes it darker, the Murder Mystery Riddles deliver.