Get ready to put your vocabulary and wit to the test! These word riddles play with meanings, sounds, and letters—so think carefully. Nothing is quite what it seems.
Word riddles:
#Riddle 1:
What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Answer:
Short. (Add “er” → shorter.)
#Riddle 2:
I start with e, end with e, and contain only one letter. What am I?
Answer:
Envelope.
#Riddle 3:
What English word has three consecutive double letters?
Answer:
Bookkeeper. (ee, kk, pp)
#Riddle 4:
What starts with p, ends with e, and holds thousands of letters?
Answer:
Post office.
#Riddle 5:
Which word is always spelled incorrectly in the dictionary?
Answer:
Incorrectly. (it’s literally “incorrectly”)
#Riddle 6:
Remove my first letter — I sound the same. Remove my first two letters — I still sound the same. What am I?
Answer:
Queue. (queue → ueue → eue, still pronounced “cue”)
#Riddle 7:
What word changes meaning when you capitalize the first letter?
Answer:
polish / Polish. (lowercase = shine; uppercase = from Poland)
#Riddle 8:
I start with a silent k; remove it and you get a homophone. What am I?
Answer:
Knight. (remove “k” → night, same pronunciation)
#Riddle 9:
I have keys but open no locks; I have space but no room; you can enter but can’t go outside. What am I?
Answer:
Keyboard.
#Riddle 10:
What’s the longest one-syllable English word?
Answer:
Screeched. (commonly cited longest one-syllable word)
#Riddle 11:
Which common English word has the most meanings?
Answer:
Set. (one of the English words with the most definitions)
#Riddle 12:
What word has all 26 letters of the alphabet?
Answer:
Alphabet.
#Riddle 13:
What five-letter word reads the same forwards and backwards?
Answer:
Level. (a simple five-letter palindrome)
#Riddle 14:
Forward I’m heavy; backward I’m not. What am I?
Answer:
Ton. (backward = “not”)
#Riddle 15:
What English word ends with the letters “mt”?
Answer:
Dreamt.
Riddles by Category:
