What Am I Quiz: 10 Riddles About Everyday Things

This what am I quiz gives you ten riddles in which an everyday thing describes itself, from a bed and a zipper to a joke, a breath, a shirt, your legs and a carpet, plus a look at how Old English riddles in the Exeter Book used the same clever first-person clues more than a thousand years ago. Choose the answer that fits every clue.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 90s

Home
I have a head and a foot but no body, and I hold you while you sleep. What am I?
Clothes
I have teeth but never eat, and I keep your jacket closed. What am I?
Words
I can be cracked, made, told and played. What am I?
Body
I am lighter than a feather, yet the strongest person cannot hold me for long. What am I?
Clothes
I have a neck but no head and two arms but no hands. What am I?
Words
I am a word of three letters. Add two more, and fewer there will be. What am I?
Body
My bottom is at my top, and I carry you everywhere you go. What am I?
Sounds
I am an instrument you can hear but never see or touch. What am I?
Home
I go up and down the stairs without ever moving. What am I?
Animals
I have thousands of needles but I cannot sew. What am I?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: I have a head and a foot but no body, and I hold you while you sleep. What am I?
Answer: A bed
A bed has a headboard at one end and a foot at the other. The riddle uses body words for parts of furniture.
Q2: I have teeth but never eat, and I keep your jacket closed. What am I?
Answer: A zipper
A zipper has rows of small metal or plastic teeth that lock together. It was developed in the early 20th century.
Q3: I can be cracked, made, told and played. What am I?
Answer: A joke
You can crack a joke, make a joke, tell a joke and play a joke on someone. Only a joke fits all four clues.
Q4: I am lighter than a feather, yet the strongest person cannot hold me for long. What am I?
Answer: Your breath
You can hold your breath for only a short time, no matter how strong you are. The riddle contrasts physical strength with lightness.
Q5: I have a neck but no head and two arms but no hands. What am I?
Answer: A shirt
A shirt has a neckline and two sleeves, but nobody inside it. Riddles often describe clothes as if they were bodies.
Q6: I am a word of three letters. Add two more, and fewer there will be. What am I?
Answer: Few
Add the letters E and R to few, and you get fewer. The riddle hides its answer in its own last line.
Q7: My bottom is at my top, and I carry you everywhere you go. What am I?
Answer: Your legs
The top of your legs is where your bottom is. The riddle plays on the word bottom, which can mean the lowest part or the part you sit on.
Q8: I am an instrument you can hear but never see or touch. What am I?
Answer: Your voice
Your voice is often called an instrument, especially by singers. You can hear it, but you cannot hold it.
Q9: I go up and down the stairs without ever moving. What am I?
Answer: A carpet
A stair carpet covers the stairs from top to bottom, so it goes up and down while staying in place.
Q10: I have thousands of needles but I cannot sew. What am I?
Answer: A porcupine
A porcupine is covered with sharp quills that look like needles. They help protect it from predators.

What Am I Quiz – Riddles Where Things Speak

What am I riddles are puzzles in which an object, animal or idea describes itself in the first person. The listener must guess what is speaking. These riddles are fun because the clues sound strange at first: a bed with a head and a foot, a shirt with arms but no hands, a word that becomes fewer when it grows longer.

This style of riddle is very old. The Exeter Book, an Old English manuscript from the 10th century, contains nearly 100 riddles in which things such as a bookworm, a shield, an onion or a storm describe themselves. Riddles like these were enjoyed at feasts and in monasteries, and many were written as short poems.

The secret of what am I riddles is personification, giving human features to things. Words such as head, foot, neck, arms and teeth make you picture a body, while the real answer is a bed, a shirt or a zipper. Other riddles rely on words with several meanings, like the bottom of your legs or cracking a joke.

To solve them, read each clue separately and list objects that could match it. Then look for the one answer that fits every clue at once. If you get stuck, think about everyday things around your home, your clothes or the words themselves.

What am I riddles are great for families, classrooms and parties, and they are easy to invent. Pick an object, list its parts and describe them as if they were alive.

If you enjoyed this quiz, explore our longer what am I riddle collections for adults and kids.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz is perfect for riddle fans, families and word game lovers.

How what am I riddles work
Body words used for objects
Riddles with double meanings
Word riddles hidden in spelling
The Old English riddles of the Exeter Book
How to write your own what am I riddles

Quick Facts About What Am I Riddles

The Exeter Book is kept at Exeter Cathedral in England.
Personification is a common tool in poems and riddles.
Many what am I riddles are passed on by word of mouth.
Porcupines have around 30,000 quills.
Riddle games are found in cultures all over the world.
Teachers use what am I riddles to build vocabulary.