Icebreaker Riddles With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: Icebreaker riddles are short puzzles that get a new group talking. This page has 42 of them, with answers, for meetings, classes, workshops and parties. They are easy to read aloud, safe for any crowd and built so that a wrong guess is as funny as a right one.
Easy Icebreaker Riddles
I am the first word of most conversations, I have five letters, and I come with a wave. What am I?
Hello.
I hang from your neck at a conference, and strangers read me to learn who you are. What am I?
A name tag.
I am a greeting with no words, where two hands meet and move up and down. What am I?
A handshake.
Pass me round the room, and whoever holds me gets to speak. What am I?
A microphone.
I am tossed in the air to decide who starts, and I always land on one of my two sides. What am I?
A coin.
Set me for sixty seconds and I will tell you when to stop talking. What am I?
A timer (a stopwatch).
I cost nothing to give, I break the ice at once, and I am shaped like a curve. What am I?
A smile.
I am the curly mark at the end of every icebreaker, and I make people answer. What am I?
A question mark.
I am a small square that sticks to walls and holds one idea at a time. What am I?
A sticky note.
I am a grid of squares, and you fill me by finding people who like pizza or have a pet. What am I?
A bingo card (people bingo).
Everyone leans in close when I am about to be taken, and someone says cheese. What am I?
A group photo.
Everyone gives me at the start of a session: a name and one fact. What am I?
An introduction.
Trickier Icebreaker Riddles
What question can you never truthfully answer with the word yes?
Are you asleep?
What begins with T, ends with T, and has T inside?
A teapot.
What has 88 keys but cannot open a single door?
A piano.
Which month has 28 days?
All of them.
What runs around a yard without moving?
A fence.
If you share me with someone, I am no longer mine alone, and if you tell anyone else I am gone. What am I?
A secret.
Which English word sounds the same when you take away four of its five letters?
Queue (the sound is just the letter Q).
What goes through a door but never goes in or comes out?
A keyhole.
I have cities but no houses, mountains but no trees, and water but no fish. What am I?
A map.
I am taller when I am young and shorter when I am old. What am I?
A candle.
What kind of nut has a hole in the middle?
A doughnut.
What is made of 3/7 of a chicken, 2/3 of a cat and 2/4 of a goat?
Chicago. CHI from chicken, CA from cat, GO from goat.
Hard Icebreaker Riddles
A bat and a ball cost 1.10 dollars together. The bat costs 1 dollar more than the ball. How much is the ball?
5 cents. The bat is 1.05, which is 1 dollar more, and 1.05 + 0.05 = 1.10.
You flip a fair coin nine times and get heads every time. What is the chance of heads on the tenth flip?
One in two. Each flip is independent of the ones before it.
A man builds a house with all four sides facing south. A bear walks past the window. What colour is the bear?
White. A house with four south-facing walls must stand at the North Pole, so it is a polar bear.
Which is correct: 'the yolk of the egg is white' or 'the yolk of the egg are white'?
Neither. The yolk is yellow.
What letter comes next in this line: O, T, T, F, F, S, S, E?
N. The letters begin the numbers one, two, three and so on, so eight is followed by nine.
Which single word can be made by rearranging the letters of 'new door'?
One word.
I am a three digit number. My second digit is 4 more than my third, my first is 3 less than my second, and my digits add up to 14. What number am I?
473. The digits are 4, 7 and 3, and 4 + 7 + 3 = 14.
A farmer has 17 sheep and all but 9 run away. How many are left?
Nine.
Rearrange the letters C I F A I P C to name something very large.
Pacific (the ocean).
What number comes next: 2, 6, 12, 20, 30?
42. The gaps are 4, 6, 8, 10, so the next gap is 12.
Quick-Fire Icebreaker Riddles
You take two apples from a basket of three. How many do you have?
Two.
What kind of dog has no tail?
A hot dog.
What has a thumb and four fingers but is not alive?
A glove.
What is the colour of the wind?
Blew.
What starts with E, ends with E and holds only one letter?
An envelope.
What has a tongue but cannot talk?
A shoe.
What do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft?
A-flat minor.
What cannot talk but replies when spoken to?
An echo.
How to Use These Icebreaker Riddles
Read one riddle at the start of a session and ask the room to call out guesses. Because a wrong guess is usually funny, people relax quickly. Follow up with one question tied to the answer, such as asking people to name the oddest keyboard shortcut they know or the best handshake they have had.
For bigger groups, put people into pairs or small tables, give each team a card with a riddle and let them report back in two minutes. Keep the pace brisk, avoid putting anyone on the spot, and stop as soon as the energy dips.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an icebreaker riddle?
It is a short, easy-to-read puzzle used at the start of a meeting, class or party to get people talking. Good icebreaker riddles are clean, quick to solve and funny whether you guess or not.
How many riddles should I use as an icebreaker?
One to three is plenty for a meeting, and five to eight suits a longer workshop or party. Stop while people are still enjoying it, because the aim is conversation, not a quiz.
Can icebreaker riddles work online?
Yes. Post a riddle in the chat, ask everyone to type their answer and then reveal it together. Breakout rooms also work well, with each small group solving one riddle and reporting back.
What if nobody knows the answer?
Offer a hint, such as the first letter or the category, and give another thirty seconds. If the room is still stuck, reveal the answer and explain the trick. Everyone usually enjoys that part.
