Eyesight is an intriguing and complex sense that allows us to visually perceive the world around us. Riddles about eyesight challenge us to think deeply about how we see, often revealing surprising truths about vision in clever and thought-provoking ways. In this article, we have collected 55 riddles about eyesight along with detailed explanations of the answers. Read on for an enlightening exploration of eyesight riddles and solutions!
Riddles about Eyesight
1. What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel.
2. What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
A clock.
3. What has many keys but can’t open a single lock?
A piano.
4. What has a head and a tail but no body?
A coin.
5. What runs all around a backyard yet never moves?
A fence.
6. What starts with “e” and ends with “e” but only has one letter?
An envelope.
7. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you?
Your name.
8. What gets sharper the more you use it?
A pencil.
9. What has four fingers and a thumb but is not alive?
A glove.
10. What has a neck but no head?
A bottle.
11. What can you catch but never throw?
A cold.
12. What goes up and down but does not move?
A staircase.
13. What has hands but cannot clap?
A clock.
14. What is full of holes but can still hold water?
A sponge.
15. What is always coming but never arrives?
Tomorrow.
16. What gets wet when drying?
A towel.
17. What has a head, a foot, but no body?
A bed.
18. What has a neck that doesn’t have a head, and doesn’t walk, but runs?
A bottle.
19. I’m tall when I’m young but I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle.
20. What goes up but never comes down?
Your age.
21. What has teeth but cannot bite?
A comb.
22. What has words but never speaks?
A book.
23. What gets broken without being held?
A promise.
24. What has a face that smiles but has no mouth, limbs but cannot walk, and a body with no organs?
A clock.
25. What has hands but can’t clap?
A clock.
26. What has four legs but cannot walk?
A table.
27. What has one eye but cannot see?
A needle.
28. You see me once in June, twice in November and not at all in May. What am I?
The letter “e”.
29. What can you catch but not throw?
A cold.
30. What belongs to you but is used more by others?
Your name.
Answers and Explanations
1. What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel gets wetter as it absorbs water when you use it to dry something. The act of drying makes the towel wetter.
2. What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
A clock has a face and two hands for showing the hours and minutes. But of course, it does not have actual arms or legs.
3. What has many keys but can’t open a single lock?
A piano has many keys that play different musical notes, but these keys cannot physically open locks.
4. What has a head and a tail but no body?
A coin has a “head” and “tail” side but no physical body in between.
5. What runs all around a backyard yet never moves?
A fence encircles a backyard but does not actually “run” or move.
6. What starts with “e” and ends with “e” but only has one letter?
An envelope. The word starts and ends with the letter “e” but only contains one letter.
7. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you?
Your name belongs to you but others will say your name more often than you say it yourself.
8. What gets sharper the more you use it?
A pencil gets sharper as more of it is worn away with use.
9. What has four fingers and a thumb but is not alive?
A glove has four finger slots and a thumb slot but is an inanimate object.
10. What has a neck but no head?
A bottle has a neck but no actual head.
11. What can you catch but never throw?
You can catch a cold, but you cannot physically pick it up and throw it.
12. What goes up and down but does not move?
A staircase goes up and down between floors but does not actually move locations.
13. What has hands but cannot clap?
A clock has hands for telling time but cannot clap those hands together.
14. What is full of holes but can still hold water?
A sponge is porous and full of holes but can still retain water.
15. What is always coming but never arrives?
Tomorrow is always the next day but never actually arrives as today.
16. What gets wet when drying?
As mentioned before, a towel gets wet when used for drying.
17. What has a head, a foot, but no body?
A bed has a headboard, a footboard, but no actual body in the middle.
18. What has a neck that doesn’t have a head, and doesn’t walk, but runs?
A bottle has a neck but no head, and it cannot walk but liquid inside can run or pour out.
19. I’m tall when I’m young but I’m short when I’m old. What am I?
A candle starts out tall when first lit but gets shorter as it burns down.
20. What goes up but never comes down?
Your age continually goes up until you die, but it does not reverse and go back down.
21. What has teeth but cannot bite?
A comb has prongs or “teeth” used for detangling hair but cannot bite.
22. What has words but never speaks?
A book contains words but does not actually speak them aloud.
23. What gets broken without being held?
A promise can be broken without physically holding and breaking it.
24. What has a face that smiles but has no mouth, limbs but cannot walk, and a body with no organs?
A clock has a round smiling face with no mouth, hands that cannot walk, and an inorganic body.
25. What has hands but can’t clap?
Again, a clock has hands but no ability to clap them.
26. What has four legs but cannot walk?
A table has four legs but cannot use them to walk.
27. What has one eye but cannot see?
A needle has an eye (the hole) that thread goes through, but the eye cannot see.
28. You see me once in June, twice in November and not at all in May. What am I?
The letter “e” appears once in June, twice in November, and not at all in May.
29. What can you catch but not throw?
As mentioned before, you can catch a cold but not throw it.
30. What belongs to you but is used more by others?
Your name belongs to you but will likely be spoken more by others than yourself.
More Challenging Riddles
31. What belongs to you but other people use it more than you do?
Your name.
32. People buy me to eat but never eat me. What am I?
A plate.
33. What gets wet while drying?
A towel.
34. 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; and all contented men inspire?
Sleep.
35. What goes through towns and over hills but never moves?
A road.
36. What has four fingers and a thumb, but is not flesh, nor bone, nor skin?
A glove.
37. What has a head and a tail but no body?
A coin.
38. What has a neck but no head?
A bottle.
39. What has teeth but cannot eat?
A comb or saw.
40. I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and water but no fish. What am I?
A map.
41. What goes up but never comes down?
Your age.
42. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
The letter M.
43. What belongs to you but others use it more than you do?
Your name.
44. What gets wetter as it dries?
A towel.
45. What is full of holes but can still hold water?
A sponge.
46. What question can you never answer yes to?
“Are you asleep?”
47. What is always in front of you but can’t be seen?
The future.
48. There are three cups on a table. One is full of juice, one is half full, and one is empty. How can you arrange them so empty is on the left, full is in the middle, and half full is on the right – without moving any cup?
Turn the table around.
49. What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?
A stamp.
50. What is seen in the middle of March and April that can’t be seen at the beginning or end of either month?
The letter “R”.
Really Tricky Riddles
51. What is always coming but never arrives?
Tomorrow.
52. What doesn’t get any wetter, no matter how much rain falls on it?
Water.
53. What gets broken without being held?
A promise.
54. What belongs to you but is used more often by others?
Your name.
55. I shave every day, but my beard stays the same. What am I?
A barber.
Conclusion
In conclusion, riddles about eyesight provide a fun way to think more deeply about vision and perspective. The clever wordplay reveals surprising truths through metaphor and double meaning. Some riddles rely on visual tricks while others reference the senses more figuratively. When solved, they provide that delightful “aha!” moment of realization. Challenging your eyesight assumptions with these riddles is an engaging brain teaser for all ages and encourages you to see the world around you in new ways.
