School subjects provide a wealth of material for fun and challenging riddles. Riddles encourage critical thinking, creativity, and engagement with academic topics. In this article, we have compiled 55 riddles spanning subjects like math, science, English, history, arts, and more. Each riddle contains clues pointing to the answer, which is revealed after the riddle. Test your knowledge and see how many you can get right!
Math Riddles
Let’s start with some brain teasers about numbers, shapes, and mathematical concepts:
1. What has one eye but can’t see?
Answer: A needle.
2. What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle.
3. I have cities with no houses, forests with no trees, water with no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map.
4. What has hands but can’t clap?
Answer: A clock.
5. What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?
Answer: A clock.
6. What gets wetter the more it dries?
Answer: A towel.
7. I’m tall when I’m young and short when I’m old. What am I?
Answer: A candle.
8. What month of the year has 28 days?
Answer: All of them.
9. What is full of holes but can still hold water?
Answer: A sponge.
10. I have branches but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I?
Answer: A bank.
11. What has a head, a tail, but no body?
Answer: A coin.
12. What can you break without touching it?
Answer: A promise.
13. What goes up and down without moving?
Answer: Stairs.
14. What has four fingers and a thumb but is not alive?
Answer: A glove.
15. What has a neck and no head, two arms but no hands?
Answer: A shirt.
Science Riddles
Now let’s look at some science riddles covering biology, chemistry, physics, and more:
16. I have billions of eyes, yet I live in darkness. I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes. I have no muscle, yet I rule two hemispheres. What am I?
Answer: The human brain.
17. I am not alive, but I grow; I don’t have lungs, but I need air; I don’t have a mouth, but water kills me. What am I?
Answer: Fire.
18. I’m sometimes white and always wrong. What am I?
Answer: A mistake.
19. I have rivers with no water, forests with no trees, and cities with no buildings. What am I?
Answer: A map.
20. I’m light as a feather yet the strongest man can’t hold me for long. What am I?
Answer: Breath.
21. What travels around the world but stays in one corner?
Answer: A stamp.
22. What fastens two people yet touches only one?
Answer: A wedding ring.
23. The more you take away, the more I become. What am I?
Answer: A hole.
24. I have cities but no houses, mountains but no trees, and water but no fish. What am I?
Answer: A map.
25. Hot I am, cold I can be, add me to food and more flavor you’ll see. What am I?
Answer: Salt.
English Riddles
Let’s switch gears to some English riddles focused on grammar, literature, and reading:
26. What word begins and ends with an E but only has one letter?
Answer: Envelope.
27. What has a thumb and four fingers but is not alive?
Answer: A glove.
28. What has a head and a tail but no body?
Answer: A coin.
29. What can travel around the world while staying in a corner?
Answer: A stamp.
30. What belongs to you but others use it more than you?
Answer: Your name.
31. People buy me to eat but never eat me. What am I?
Answer: A plate.
32. What gets wet while drying?
Answer: A towel.
33. What has four fingers and a thumb, but is not flesh, not bone, nor feather, nor foam?
Answer: A glove.
34. What has words but never speaks?
Answer: A book.
35. What has a neck but no head?
Answer: A bottle.
History Riddles
Let’s look back in time with these history riddles:
36. I’m sometimes a lake, sometimes a code. I inspired a dance and am found on a road. What am I?
Answer: Charleston.
37. I had a dream, was a civil rights leader, and gave a famous speech in Washington. Who am I?
Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.
38. I sailed across the ocean blue and landed in 1492. Who am I?
Answer: Christopher Columbus.
39. I helped write the Declaration of Independence and became the third president in 1801. Who am I?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson.
40. I was the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Who am I?
Answer: Sandra Day O’Connor.
Geography Riddles
How well do you know maps and landscapes? Try these geography riddles:
41. I’m home to Machu Picchu and the Amazon River. What country am I?
Answer: Peru.
42. I’m an island country made up of over 7,000 islands including Luzon, Mindanao, and Palawan. What am I?
Answer: The Philippines.
43. Mount Everest is my tallest mountain located above Nepal and China. What continent am I?
Answer: Asia.
44. I’m the largest country in the world spanning 11 time zones. What am I?
Answer: Russia.
45. I’m the smallest country in the world, surrounded completely by Italy. Who am I?
Answer: Vatican City.
Arts Riddles
How about some riddles inspired by music, visual arts, and performance:
46. I have keys but no locks and walls but no rooms. What am I?
Answer: A piano.
47. I come in winter or in summer, some people think I’m nice to plunder. I dazzle and glisten, sparkle and shine, rainbow colors that look so fine. What am I?
Answer: An icicle.
48. Stroke me and I make fine music, leave me alone and I’ll never be used. What am I?
Answer: A violin.
49. I have bristles though I don’t sweep and ink though I don’t write. What am I?
Answer: A paintbrush.
50. I don’t breathe but I run and jump. I don’t eat but I swim and stretch. I don’t drink but I sleep and stand. I don’t think but you give me commands. What am I?
Answer: A toy.
Sports Riddles
Let’s get active with these sports and recreation riddles:
51. I’m a game with rackets and birds without wings. Badminton is my name.
Answer: Badminton.
52. I’m an Olympic sport that takes place in a pool and involves synchronized swimming and diving. What am I?
Answer: Artistic swimming.
53. I’m a sport played between two teams of five players each, trying to score by throwing a ball through a hoop. What am I?
Answer: Basketball.
54. I’m a sport with sticks, a hard ball, and eleven players on each team. What am I?
Answer: Field hockey.
55. I’m a winter Olympic sport where athletes slide down an icy track feet first. What am I?
Answer: Luge.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed challenging your mind with these riddles spanning subjects like math, science, reading, history, geography, art, and sports. Riddles are a fun way to stimulate thinking while reinforcing knowledge of academic topics. They can be used educationally or just for entertainment. Next time you want a brain teaser activity, try writing or solving riddles about school subjects!
