What Am I Riddles With Answers
Updated · Best Riddles With Answers editorial team
Quick answer: In these 42 what am I riddles, the answer describes itself in the first person and you work out who is speaking. They run from everyday objects to nature, science and abstract ideas, with answers for each. This page suits teens and adults who like descriptive puzzles, and it works well as a game for dinners, trips and puzzle nights.
Easy What Am I Riddles
I go up and down all day without leaving my shaft, and everyone presses my buttons. What am I?
An elevator, also called a lift.
I control the temperature of your home, and people argue about my setting. What am I?
A thermostat.
I am dark and bitter, brewed from roasted beans, and I help you wake up. What am I?
Coffee.
I prove that you paid, and I curl up forgotten at the bottom of your pocket. What am I?
A receipt.
I live in your back pocket, I am full of cards and cash, and I am heartbroken when I am lost. What am I?
A wallet.
I hold thousands of stories, and I never say a word. What am I?
A bookshelf.
I have many buttons, and I always disappear down the side of the sofa. What am I?
A remote control.
I turn the screen into paper, and I always jam at the worst possible moment. What am I?
A printer.
I stretch across the garden, and I hold wet clothes while the wind dries them. What am I?
A clothesline.
I hum all night, I keep things cold, and my door is covered in magnets. What am I?
A fridge.
You buy me to get inside, and the person at the door tears me in half. What am I?
A ticket.
I am a loan that can last for decades, and I am paid in monthly instalments for a home. What am I?
A mortgage.
Trickier What Am I Riddles
I am a river of ice. I move so slowly that you cannot see me move, yet I carve valleys. What am I?
A glacier.
I am a patch of green and water in a sea of sand, where travellers stop to rest. What am I?
An oasis.
A river carved me over millions of years, and now I am deep, wide and very steep. What am I?
A canyon.
I take heavy blows all day, but I never break. The hammer is the one that wears out. What am I?
An anvil.
I bend light so that blurry things come into focus. I am in your glasses and in a camera. What am I?
A lens.
I am an edge you should not step over, and the sea or valley lies far below me. What am I?
A cliff.
I scrape the sky but have no hands. What am I?
A skyscraper.
I have a hundred players and one leader who waves a stick. I have strings, brass and drums. What am I?
An orchestra.
I have sixty-four squares and two armies. Each army has a king that must be protected. What am I?
A chessboard.
I am a rock that burns as I fall through the sky, and I look like a star that has dropped. What am I?
A meteor, or shooting star.
I circle the Earth without a sound and beam down signals, pictures and your phone location. What am I?
A satellite.
Twelve strangers sit in a box and decide someone's fate together. What am I?
A jury.
Hard What Am I Riddles
I have no end and no beginning, and I look like an eight lying on its side. What am I?
Infinity.
Nothing escapes me, not even light. Near me, a clock runs slower than one far away. What am I?
A black hole.
I am a recipe written for a computer, a list of steps to follow to solve a problem. What am I?
An algorithm.
I sit at the back of the book and tell you which page to turn to for each topic. What am I?
An index.
I take a second to tell and a lifetime to hide. The more people I fool, the more you must remember. What am I?
A lie.
At first I am a thread, and then I become a cable. In the end, I steer you. What am I?
A habit.
I speak softly to you alone. You can ignore me, but you can never silence me. What am I?
Your conscience.
When all the troubles flew out of the jar, I was the only thing left at the bottom. What am I?
Hope.
My root is bitter, but my fruit is sweet. I am a quiet strength that waits. What am I?
Patience.
I am a picture that goes everywhere with you, and I am not easy to take off. What am I?
A tattoo.
Quick-Fire What Am I Riddles
I am what is left after the fire has died down. What am I?
Ash.
We run side by side forever and never meet. What are we?
Parallel lines.
I am a busy home with thousands of bees. What am I?
A hive.
I am a wall of water that rushes onto the land after an earthquake at sea. What am I?
A tsunami.
I hang from your neck at work and I do nothing but look smart. What am I?
A tie.
I am the place where two roads cross and you must choose a way. What am I?
A crossroads.
I am folded on your lap at dinner and I wipe your fingers. What am I?
A napkin.
I am your name written in your own hand, and I make a contract official. What am I?
A signature.
How to Use These Riddles
What am I riddles are easy to run as a group game. Read the clues one sentence at a time and let players guess after each. Award more points for guessing early, when fewer clues have been given, which rewards sharp thinking rather than luck.
To make your own, pick a subject, write down three or four of its features, and turn them into first-person clues. Put the most unusual clue first and the most obvious last. If a friend guesses wrongly, check whether your clues point to another answer too.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a what am I riddle?
It is a riddle where the thing to be guessed speaks about itself in the first person and ends with the question: What am I? The clues usually describe appearance, use, location or behaviour.
How can I get better at solving them?
List every clue and ask what single thing fits all of them. Be ready for a clue to be figurative, such as a river of ice, and test both the literal and the poetic reading.
Are what am I riddles good for groups?
Yes. They suit parties, classrooms for older students and car trips because everyone can join in. The first-person voice makes them easy to read aloud and fun to act out.
What makes an answer fair?
Every clue must be true of the answer, and the clues together should point to one thing. If another answer fits equally well, the riddle needs tighter clues or should be dropped.
