Math can be really fun when it’s turned into a puzzle! In this blog post, you’ll find 33 creative math riddles made just for 5th graders. Each riddle comes with an answer and a short explanation to help you understand the solution.
Get ready to challenge your brain and enjoy a playful way to learn about numbers and shapes. Let’s get started!
All Riddles About Math 5th Grade
- Riddle: I’m an odd number. Take away one letter, and I become even. What number am I?
Answer: Seven
Explanation: The word “seven” is odd, but if you remove the “s,” it becomes “even.”
- Riddle: I’m a three-digit number. My tens digit is five more than my ones digit. My hundreds digit is eight less than my tens digit. What number am I?
Answer: 194
Explanation: The tens digit is 9, which is 5 more than the ones digit 4. The hundreds digit is 1, which is 8 less than the tens digit 9.
- Riddle: What has keys but can’t open locks?
Answer: A piano
Explanation: A piano has keys, but these “keys” are for playing music, not opening locks.
- Riddle: I’m a number that’s half of 10. What number am I?
Answer: 5
Explanation: Half of 10 is 5, a simple yet effective riddle.
- Riddle: What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?
Answer: The letter “M”
Explanation: The letter “M” appears once in the word “minute,” twice in “moment,” and not at all in “a thousand years.”
- Riddle: I’m the result when you multiply any number by zero. What am I?
Answer: 0
Explanation: Multiplying any number by zero always results in 0.
- Riddle: What’s the smallest number you can multiply to get 100?
Answer: 10
Explanation: 10 multiplied by 10 equals 100, and it’s the smallest possible factor pair for 100.
- Riddle: I have six faces, but no body. I have twenty-one eyes, but cannot see. What am I?
Answer: A die
Explanation: A die has six faces and 21 pips (dots), representing the eyes, but it can’t see.
- Riddle: I am an even number. Take away one letter, and I become odd. What number am I?
Answer: Seven
Explanation: The word “seven” is odd, and by removing the “s,” it becomes “even.”
- Riddle: If two is company and three is a crowd, what is four and five?
Answer: Nine
Explanation: This is a math riddle where you simply add four and five together to get 9.
- Riddle: What has a head, a tail, but no body?
Answer: A coin
Explanation: A coin has a head and a tail (the two sides), but no body.
- Riddle: How many months have 28 days?
Answer: All of them
Explanation: Every month has at least 28 days, even February in non-leap years.
- Riddle: If you have 10 apples and you take away 3, how many do you have?
Answer: 3
Explanation: You took 3 apples, so you now have 3.
- Riddle: I am a number that is the sum of two even numbers. What am I?
Answer: 4
Explanation: The sum of 2 + 2 equals 4, which is the sum of two even numbers.
- Riddle: What do you get when you multiply all the numbers on a phone’s keypad?
Answer: 0
Explanation: Any number multiplied by 0 gives 0, and the keypad includes the digit 0.
- Riddle: What’s greater than God, more evil than the Devil, and if you eat it, you’ll die?
Answer: Nothing
Explanation: Nothing is greater than God, nothing is more evil than the Devil, and if you eat nothing, you’ll die.
- Riddle: How many sides does a circle have?
Answer: Two
Explanation: A circle has an inside and an outside, which are considered the two sides.
- Riddle: Which number is a friend to 1, 3, and 5?
Answer: 7
Explanation: 1, 3, and 5 are all odd numbers, and the next odd number is 7.
- Riddle: If a plane crashes on the border of the U.S. and Canada, where do they bury the survivors?
Answer: Nowhere
Explanation: Survivors aren’t buried!
- Riddle: What comes down but never goes up?
Answer: Rain
Explanation: Rain falls from the sky but doesn’t go back up.
- Riddle: How much dirt is in a hole that measures 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet?
Answer: None
Explanation: A hole doesn’t contain dirt by definition.
- Riddle: I’m a number that when you subtract me from myself, I become 1. What number am I?
Answer: 1
Explanation: 1 minus 1 equals 0, but it’s a fun trick riddle to think about!
- Riddle: What number do you get when you add the numbers 10, 20, 30, and 40 together?
Answer: 100
Explanation: 10 + 20 + 30 + 40 equals 100.
- Riddle: I’m divisible by 3 but not divisible by 2. What number am I?
Answer: 3
Explanation: 3 is divisible by 3 but not by 2.
- Riddle: What’s the next number in the sequence: 1, 4, 9, 16, __?
Answer: 25
Explanation: The numbers are perfect squares, and the next square after 16 is 25.
- Riddle: I am a two-digit number. My tens digit is four more than my ones digit. What number am I?
Answer: 41
Explanation: The tens digit 4 is four more than the ones digit 1.
- Riddle: What can you put in a bucket to make it weigh less?
Answer: A hole
Explanation: If you put a hole in the bucket, it will weigh less.
- Riddle: I am an even number. If you remove one letter, I become odd. What number am I?
Answer: Seven
Explanation: Removing the “s” from “seven” makes it “even.”
- Riddle: If you divide me by half, I become bigger. What am I?
Answer: A hole
Explanation: A hole becomes bigger as you divide it into smaller parts.
- Riddle: What is the sum of the first five prime numbers?
Answer: 28
Explanation: The first five prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, and 11. Their sum is 28.
- Riddle: I am a number. I am the product of 2 and 8. What number am I?
Answer: 16
Explanation: 2 multiplied by 8 gives 16.
- Riddle: What number is represented by the following Roman numerals: X + V?
Answer: 15
Explanation: X is 10 and V is 5, so their sum is 15.
- Riddle: What number is 50% of 100?
Answer: 50
Explanation: Half of 100 is 50.
Conclusion
There you have it! Thirty-three fun and thought-provoking math riddles that challenge young minds and make learning math a little more exciting. Riddles are a fantastic way to engage children, develop problem-solving skills, and add an element of fun to learning.
Do you have a favorite math riddle or perhaps one of your own that you’d like to share? Leave a comment below, and let’s keep the puzzle-solving fun going!