Here is our list of the best icebreaker riddles.
Icebreaker riddles are fun puzzles and brain teasers that involve players thinking out of the box to find the answers. These questions are a great way to break the ice during a gathering. Examples include “What has branches but no fruit, leaves, or trunk?,” What word contains all 26 letters?,” and “What has a bottom at the top?” The purpose of these questions is to test how much a player can think critically and unveil the hidden meaning of these riddles.
These riddles are similar to workplace riddles and team building riddles. Icebreaker riddles are an example of problem-solving games and brain teasers for teams. These riddles are similar to team building puzzles and icebreaker jokes.
This list includes:
- funny work riddles with answers
- riddle icebreakers for virtual meetings
- logic riddles for adults
- icebreaker riddles for work
- riddles about teamwork
Here we go!
Funny work riddles with answers
- Q: What did the smelly shoe say to the smelly feet before going on a long walk?
A: This socks - Q: A spider was seeking a job and got a role in IT. Why did the spider get the job?
A: Because spiders are great web designers - Q: What has branches but no fruit, leaves, or trunk?
A: A bank - Q: Two monkeys were sitting on a tree. One monkey jumped, and the other followed too. Why did the other monkey jump as well?
A: Monkey see monkey do - Q: What belongs to you, but your friends use more than you do?
A: Your name - Q: I have a face and two hands but no legs or arms. What am I?
A clock - Q: What is extremely light, but even the strongest man cannot hold for over five minutes?
A: Breath - Q: What can you see in the middle of April and March but cannot find at the beginning or end of either month?
A: The letter “R” - Q: What word contains all 26 letters?
A: Alphabet - Q: I have 13 hearts but no other organs. What am I?
A: A deck of cards - Q: What do snakes give each other when they say goodbye?
A: A little hiss on the cheek - Q: Sometimes, I can be sour or sweet. Sometimes, I am red or green. People say I put doctors out of business. What am I?
A: Apple - Q: Spelled backward, I am something people hate. Spelled forward, I am what you do every single day. What word am I?
A: Live - Q: What is full of holes but still retains water?
A sponge - Q: If a farmer properly feeds and houses a rooster, then how many eggs will the animal lay on average?
A: Roosters do not lay eggs - Q: I am a word. My first two letters describe a male, while my first three letters describe a female. My first four letters describe a great man. All my letters together describe a great woman. What word am I?
A: Heroine - Q: What starts with a T, ends with a T, and has a T in it?
A: A teapot - Q: What has many teeth but cannot bite?
A: A comb - Q: I get smaller every time I take a bath. What am I?
A: Soap - Q: What can you break even without holding?
A: A promise - Q: If you have me, then you should not share me. If you share me, then you do not have me anymore. What am I?
A: A secret - Q: There was a plane crash, and every single passenger survived. Who died?
A: The passengers in a relationship - Q: What has a tail and head but no body?
A: A coin - Q: What two words contain thousands of letters?
A: Post office - Q: There are two ducks behind a duck, two ducks in front of a duck, and one duck in the middle. How many ducks are there?
A: Three ducks - Q: What building has the most stories?
A: A library - Q: What has a bottom at the top?
A: Your legs - Q: What has many keys but cannot open a single lock?
A: A piano - Q: What can jump but has no legs?
A: Jumper cables - Q: Michelle’s father has three daughters. The first two daughters are Angel and Bangel. What is the name of the third daughter?
A: Michelle - Q: A cowboy rides into town on Monday. He stayed in town for two days and left on Monday. How was that possible?
A: The name of the cowboy’s horse is Monday - Q: I am a fruit, a bird, and a person. What am I?
A: Kiwi - Q: What do Europe and a frying pan have in common?
A: They both have “Greece” at the bottom - Q: How many months have 28 days?
A: All months have 28 days - Q: What can you hold in your right hand but not in your left hand?
A: Your left hand
Riddle icebreakers for virtual meetings
- Q: How can you tell Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter, and Uranus are about to get married?
A: They all have rings - Q: What do the moon and a dollar have in common?
A: Four quarters - Q: What can you find on the ground at all times but will never get dirty?
A: Shadow - Q: What ball can you roll but cannot bounce or throw?
A: Eyeball - Q: I can be hard, and I can be soft. I can be hot, and I can be cold. I can be still, and I can run. What am I?
A: Water - Q: What is always coming but never arrives?
A: Tomorrow - Q: The more you take from me, the larger I get. What am I?
A: A hole - Q: If the day before two days after the day before tomorrow is Saturday, then what day is today?
A: Friday - Q: How many “9” s are there between 1 to 100?
A: 20 - Q: What has a neck and wears a cap but does not have a head?
A: A bottle - Q: How can you spell “C-O-W” in thirteen letters?
A: SEE O DOUBLE YOU - Q: Where do roads, cities, and jungles exist, but there are no vehicles, people, or animals?
A: A map - Q: A word that starts and ends with the letter “h.” People often describe this word as wealth. What is the word?
A: Health - Q: I only have one color. I do not have a permanent size. You will see me in the sun, but when the rain comes, I hide. I cannot cause you harm, and I feel no pain either. What am I?
A: Shadow - Q: Between a ton of feathers and a ton of sand, which is heavier?
A: None is heavier since they both weigh a ton - Q: A woman goes for a walk during a storm with nothing to protect her from the rain. She does not have an umbrella or a hat. But by the end of her walk, there is no single wet hair on her head. Why does the woman have no wet hair?
A: She is bald. - Q: There are tons of passengers aboard a boat. But when you look well, you cannot see a single passenger. Why?
A: Because all the passengers are in a relationship or married. - Q: No one wants to have me, but no one wants to lose me too. What am I?
A: A lawsuit - Q: When I am alive, everyone sings to me. But when I die, everyone claps for me. What am I?
A: A birthday candle - Q: I am a room with no doors, windows, or walls. What am I?
A: A mushroom
Logic riddles for adults
- Q: Where is the only place you will find today before yesterday and tomorrow in the middle?
A: A dictionary - Q: What does everyone has but cannot lose?
A: Shadow - Q: If five cats spend five minutes catching five mice, then how long will a cat take to catch one mouse?
A: Five minutes - Q: Who is your father’s only sister’s sister-in-law?
A: Your mother - Q: A boy clocked five on his last birthday and will be seven on his next birthday. How is this possible?
A: Today is his sixth birthday - Q: How many months have 28 days?
A: All months have 28 days - Q: There are two mothers and two daughters in a car. Yet there are only three passengers in the vehicle. How is that possible?
A: The three passengers are the grandmother, mother, and daughter - Q: What is the one thing that all persons, irrespective of religion and politics, agree is between heaven and earth?
A: The word “and” - Q: What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat, and 2/4 goat?
A: Chicago - Q: Which of these English words is odd in the set? Mood, stun, strap, straw, letter, and evil.
A: Letter, because this word is the only one that does not form a meaningful word when written backward - Q: An electric train is traveling north at 50mph. What direction will the train’s smoke go if the wind blows at 65 mph?
A: An electric train does not produce smoke - Q: A woman was at her mother’s funeral when she saw a man standing at a pew. She fell in love with him at first sight. However, her efforts to find him after the burial were in vain. A few weeks later, the woman killed her sister. Why did she kill her?
A: So she can see the man again at her sister’s funeral - Q: Imagine you got trapped in a room with only two exits. At the first exit, there is a dragon that destroys everything that walks through the passage. At the second exit, there is a passage built with magnifying glasses which fries anything that passes, particularly when the sun is hot. How can you escape?
A: By waiting until nighttime to pass through the second passage - Q: On the first day of January, two boys were born to the same mother at the same time and year. Yet, the boys are not twins. How is this possible?
A: The two boys are a part of a set of triplets or even quadruplets
Icebreaker riddles for work
- Q: What does not talk but will only respond after you speak?
A: Echo - Q: You can call me the father of fruits. What am I?
A: A papa-ya - Q: What room do ghosts avoid?
A: The living room - Q: What do an island and the letter “T” have in common?
A: They are both in the middle of the water - Q: What goes up but never comes down?
A: Your age - Q: What is the only English word with three consecutive sets of double letters?
A: Bookkeeping - Q: If a plane crashes on the border of Canada and America, then where will they bury the survivors?
A: You literally cannot bury survivors - Q: A woman dies of old age on her 26th birthday. How is that possible?
A: She was born on February 29 - Q: What gets dirty by becoming white?
A: A blackboard - Q: What kind of band does not play music?
A: Rubber band - Q: The more you take me, the more of me you leave behind. What am I?
A: Footstep. - Q: What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to the word?
A: Short - Q: What kind of ship has two mates but no captain?
A: Relationship - Q: Who marries many people but cannot marry himself?
A: A priest - Q: Can you guess the word in the dictionary spelled incorrectly?
A: Incorrectly - Q: What can you find twice in November, once in February, and not at all in April?
A: The letter “E” - Q: I am a word that has the same pronunciation even if you remove four out of my five letters. What word am I?
A: Queue - Q: What occurs twice in a moment, once in a minute, and never in 100 years?
A: The letter “M” - Q: What do you buy to eat but never consume?
A: Cutlery - Q: I get shorter the longer I live. What am I?
A: A candle - Q: You can catch me, but you cannot throw me. What am I?
A: Cold - Q: I run around an entire yard without even moving. What am I?
A: A fence - Q: What begins with an “E” and only contains one letter?
A: An envelope - Q: A bus driver went down a one-way lane in the opposite direction. He went past several cops, but they did not stop him. Why?
A: Because the bus driver was walking and not driving - Q: If you have me but show me to your friends, then I am gone. What am I?
A: Secret - Q: Why are carrots great for the eyes?
A: Because Rabbits do not wear glasses - Q: What has four fingers and a thumb but is not living?
A: A glove - Q: I am the shortest among my peers. When happy, people often raise me above others. What am I?
A: A thumb - Q: What is harder for you to catch the faster your run?
A: Breath
Riddles about teamwork
- Q: What is that one thing everyone does at the same time?
A: Get older - Q: I will live if I fall off a building. But if I fall into the water, then I will perish. What am I?
A: A piece of paper - Q: A man lives on the 10th floor of a building. Every morning, he takes the elevator to the ground floor to work. If he returns on a rainy day or when other folks are inside the elevator, then he can take the elevator back to the 10th floor. Otherwise, he has to stop on the 7th floor and take the flights of stairs to his apartment. Why does the man behave this way?
A: Because he is so short. On a rainy day, he can use his umbrella to push the 10th-floor button or use the help of others inside the elevator. But if he is alone, then he can only reach the 7th-floor button. - Q: Why did an invisible man turn down a job offer?
A: Because he could not see himself doing the job - Q: I taste better than I smell. What am I?
A: The tongue - Q: How many bananas can you eat if your stomach is empty?
A: Just one banana. Your stomach is no longer empty after eating one - Q: What makes you young?
A: By adding the letters “ng” to you - Q: You are my sister, but I am not your sister. What am I?
A: Your brother - Q: Take away the whole, and some remain. What am I?
A: “Wholesome” - Q: Where can you finish a book without completing a sentence?
A: Prison - Q: What do Europe and a frying pan have in common?
A: They both have “Greece” at the bottom - Q: How many months have 28 days?
A: All months have 28 days
Conclusion
Playing riddles is a fun way to break the ice at work. You can challenge your group to several riddle questions at the start of a meeting or even during your lunch break. Riddles can spark laughter, especially after discovering the hidden answers you could not have imagined. Riddles can also help boost your team’s morale, especially after a long work day. Alongside breaking the ice, riddles allow players to work on their problem-solving skills and learn new facts. For a more fun challenge, you can turn the activity into a friendly contest and watch your friends rack their brains to find the answers.
Next, check out lists of work icebreaker questions, icebreakers for large groups, icebreakers for small groups, and leadership icebreakers.
