Ball sports are popular pastimes around the world. They involve balls being hit, kicked, thrown, or bounced as part of the game. Some of the most common ball sports are football, basketball, baseball, cricket, tennis, volleyball, rugby, and soccer. Let’s challenge your knowledge of ball sports with 57 tricky riddles!
General Ball Sports Riddles
Let’s start with some general riddles about balls and ball sports:
Riddle 1
What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
Answer: A football
Riddle 2
What flies without wings?
Answer: A ball, when you throw it
Riddle 3
What bounces higher each time it lands?
Answer: A ball
Riddle 4
What has eyes but cannot see?
Answer: A potato (sounds like “pot a toe” – a toe on the foot used to kick a ball)
Riddle 5
I have a round face but no eyes, legs or nose. I’m spotted and loved by everyone. What am I?
Answer: A ball
Riddle 6
What’s round on both sides but high in the middle?
Answer: A ball
Riddle 7
What can travel around the world without leaving its corner?
Answer: A stamp on a ball
Football Riddles
Let’s kick things off with some football riddles:
Riddle 8
What only eats grass but also kicks the ball?
Answer: A football player wearing cleats
Riddle 9
I have two feet but no legs. What am I?
Answer: A football goal
Riddle 10
Why do football players make good dancers?
Answer: They know all the latest steps
Riddle 11
I go back and forth but I never move. What am I?
Answer: The 50-yard line on a football field
Riddle 12
What has words but never speaks?
Answer: The words printed on a football
Baseball Riddles
Let’s switch gears to some baseball brain teasers:
Riddle 13
What has four legs but cannot walk?
Answer: A baseball base
Riddle 14
What has hands but cannot clap?
Answer: A baseball glove
Riddle 15
When I take one before I eat, it makes me bigger. What am I?
Answer: Steroids (a baseball player taking steroids before a game)
Riddle 16
What starts with “f” and ends with “k” and if you can’t get it, you have to take a walk?
Answer: Strike (sounds like “f” for “strike” and strike ends with “k”; if you don’t hit the baseball you have to walk to first base)
Riddle 17
What building has the most stories?
Answer: A baseball stadium (it has many “stories” from all the games played there over the years)
Basketball Riddles
Let’s jump up with some basketball brain teasers:
Riddle 18
What fruit always comes back?
Answer: A basketball
Riddle 19
I’m tall when I’m young but short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A basketball player (they shrink as they age)
Riddle 20
What is seen in the middle of March and April but not in May or June?
Answer: The letter “A” (March Madness – the NCAA basketball tournament takes place in March and April)
Riddle 21
What accidentally falls into a bucket of red paint?
Answer: A basketball player who drives toward the hoop
Riddle 22
What bounces higher each time it lands?
Answer: A skilled basketball player
Tennis Riddles
Let’s volley over some tennis teasers:
Riddle 23
What fruit do tennis players eat?
Answer: Strawberries (often served at tennis matches)
Riddle 24
I have a head like a cat and a tail like a rat. I’m stiff as a board but flexible too. What am I?
Answer: A tennis racquet
Riddle 25
What has green hair and runs back and forth forever?
Answer: The tennis court grass
Riddle 26
Where does a 500-pound alien play tennis?
Answer: On Jupiter (sounds like “Jupiter” and “huge planet”)
Riddle 27
I can only live if there is light, but I die if the light shines on me. What am I?
Answer: A tennis ball that can only bounce with indoor light, but heat from direct sunlight could damage it
Volleyball Riddles
Let’s spike things up with some volleyball riddles:
Riddle 28
What tastes better than it smells?
Answer: A volleyball (smells like leather but fun to play with)
Riddle 29
What gets hit more than Facebook?
Answer: A volleyball
Riddle 30
What has thousands of holes but can still hold water?
Answer: A volleyball net
Riddle 31
I come in different shapes and sizes. Part of me are curves, others are lines. You can spike me, bump me, or set me. What am I?
Answer: A volleyball
Riddle 32
What do you fill with empty hands?
Answer: A volleyball player’s grip when setting the ball
Rugby Riddles
Let’s ruck over to some rugby riddles:
Riddle 33
What gets kicked more than a cowboy does?
Answer: A rugby ball
Riddle 34
I have a neck but no head, two arms but no hands. What am I?
Answer: A rugby shirt
Riddle 35
What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: The rugby goalpost
Riddle 36
I run but never walk. Wherever I go, thought follows close behind. What am I?
Answer: A rugby player
Riddle 37
What gets greener the more it’s kicked around?
Answer: The rugby field
Soccer Riddles
Let’s dribble through some soccer stumpers:
Riddle 38
What tastes better than it smells?
Answer: A soccer ball made of leather
Riddle 39
What has feet but can’t walk?
Answer: A soccer goal
Riddle 40
Forward I’m heavy, backward I’m not. What am I?
Answer: Soccer cleats (cleats help you move forward, not backward)
Riddle 41
What word starts with “f” and ends with “k” and if you don’t get it you have to run?
Answer: Score (sounds like “f” for “score” and score ends with “k”; if you don’t score in soccer you have to run)
Riddle 42
I come in winter, but not in fall. You can kick me, but not a ball. What am I?
Answer: Soccer played in the snow (you can still kick the snow)
Cricket Riddles
Let’s bowl over to some cricket conundrums:
Riddle 43
What’s white with black spots and very dangerous?
Answer: A cricket ball heading straight for your face
Riddle 44
I have four legs but no feet. What am I?
Answer: A cricket pitch
Riddle 45
Forward we are heavy, backward we are not. What are we?
Answer: Cricket pads (they protect your legs when running forward to score)
Riddle 46
I have handles but cannot open doors. I have spikes but cannot walk. What am I?
Answer: A cricket bat
Riddle 47
What building has the most stories?
Answer: A cricket stadium where games have been played for many years
Pickleball Riddles
Let’s dip into some pickleball puzzlers:
Riddle 48
What do clouds wear under their shorts?
Answer: Thunderwear (a pickleball term for a loud shot)
Riddle 49
What do you call a ghost pickleball player?
Answer: A dill phantom (sounds like “dill” which is an ingredient in pickles)
Riddle 50
Why was the kitchen sad?
Answer: It had the pickle blues (feels lonely without pickleball games)
Riddle 51
When you look for something I hide. What you do to find me makes me inside. What am I?
Answer: A pickleball after an opponent hits a down-the-line shot
Riddle 52
I can be cracked, chopped, bread and buttered, but you can’t eat me. What am I?
Answer: A pickleball serve or return of serve
Bowling Riddles
Let’s roll up to some bowling brain twisters:
Riddle 53
What kind of bow can’t be tied?
Answer: A bowling ball
Riddle 54
What falls down but never gets hurt?
Answer: Bowling pins
Riddle 55
I am round with no points or edges and I am surrounded. There are fingers inside me but I have none. What am I?
Answer: A bowling ball
Riddle 56
The more places I be, the less you can see. What am I?
Answer: Holes in a bowling ball
Riddle 57
I have a head and a tail but no body. What am I?
Answer: A bowling pin
Conclusion
We’ve raced through riddles about many popular ball sports. From general ball bafflers to ones focused on specific sports like football, baseball, basketball and more, these brain teasers put your knowledge to the test.
Ball sports involve a fascinating variety of equipment, fields, rules and player skills. These puzzles play with words and puzzle your understanding of the games we know and love.
Did you get stuck on any riddles or have an “aha” moment with the answers? See if you and your friends can come up with your own creative ball sport riddles!
