Thanksgiving Riddles

Ten Thanksgiving riddles for kids and grown-ups, answers covered: guess first, then tap Show answer.

I am given back to you on the first Sunday of November, at two in the morning, and most people sleep through me. What am I?
Among turkeys I am the male, and my second name is the sound of the bird: gobbler. What is my first name?
I am a golden grass about as tall as your waist. A field of me ripples like water, and my seeds are ground for bread. What am I?
I am a smooth brown nut from a tall tree. In November I am baked into a sweet, sticky pie. What am I?
Why was the turkey sent out of the classroom?
I am a mountain on the guest bed, made of everybody's jackets. The first to go home has to dig. What am I?
On which side does a turkey wear the most feathers: the left, the right or another?
I am orange underneath and toasted marshmallows on top. Half the table calls me a side dish, and half calls me dessert. What am I?
I am orange under a white cloud. I come last, and people who said they were full still find room for me. What am I?
I am named for a musician's tool, but I never touch a drum. On Thanksgiving, two people at the table always ask for me. What am I?

Next step Roll a die and draw a turkey Thanksgiving would you rather

How it works

These Thanksgiving riddles are made to be guessed aloud at the table: the bird and its jokes, the meal from the wishbone to the pie, the farm in November, and the family itself.

Read the full guide

Riddles about turkeys, the table and the harvest

The menu under the button keeps one set. Turkeys and gobble jokes describes the bird and tells its jokes. On the table runs from the wishbone to the pie. Fall and harvest is the farm in November. Family around the table covers the kids' table, the nap and the leftovers.

Play Thanksgiving riddle me this

The reader says "Riddle me this" and reads one aloud. Guesses go around the table, youngest first. Show answer opens the answer and one line that says why.

Tips

Let the kids' table read the riddles and the grown-ups guess: the hard ones are fair for both.
A pun lands best when the reader keeps a straight face.

Questions and answers

Where are the funny Thanksgiving riddles?

In the set Turkeys and gobble jokes. Why did the turkey cross the road twice? To prove it was not chicken. What sound does a turkey's telephone make? Wing, wing. A line after each answer explains the joke.

Are any of these Thanksgiving riddles hard?

Yes. Choose More filters in the menu, then Level, then Hard. One example: take the first six letters of this holiday's name. What do you say when someone passes the rolls? Thanks.

What is a good Thanksgiving riddle for the dinner table?

One about the table itself. I am called a boat, and I have never seen the sea. I sail from hand to hand down the table, and I pour. What am I? A gravy boat.

Which riddles suit the youngest children?

The Easy level, and above all the jokes and the family set: the kids' table, the nap, the dog under the table. The two levels are the editors' judgment.

All 80 riddles

Turkeys and gobble jokes 20

A turkey says one word again and again with its mouth full. What did nobody teach it? Answer: Table manners. It gobbles, gobbles, gobbles.
Among turkeys I am the male, and my second name is the sound of the bird: gobbler. What is my first name? Answer: A tom. A male turkey is a tom or a gobbler, and a female is a hen.
I am a baby turkey, and nobody calls me a chick. What is my name? Answer: A poult. A young turkey is a poult.
I am a race run on Thanksgiving morning, before the big meal, and I am named for the bird on the table. What am I? Answer: A turkey trot. Turkey trots are footraces held on or around Thanksgiving Day.
I am a turkey with five feathers, and I was drawn around your fingers. The thumb is my head. What am I? Answer: A hand turkey. Trace a hand, add an eye and a beak to the thumb, and it is a turkey.
I am a turkey's whole speech, and I am also what you do to dinner when you eat too fast. What word am I? Answer: Gobble. A turkey gobbles, and so does a fast eater.
I am light and striped brown and tan, and a turkey wears thousands of me. Dip my tip in ink, and I am a pen. What am I? Answer: A feather. A large feather can be cut into a quill pen.
I am named for a musician's tool, but I never touch a drum. On Thanksgiving, two people at the table always ask for me. What am I? Answer: A drumstick. A turkey leg is called a drumstick, and the bird has only two.
I am the red flap of skin that hangs from a turkey's throat and swings when he walks. What am I called? Answer: A wattle. A turkey's wattles are the red folds of skin on the throat and neck.
I dangle over a tom turkey's beak, and when he shows off I stretch and turn red. I share my name with a net worn over the hair. What am I called? Answer: A snood. The snood is the flap on the bill, and it swells and reddens when the tom displays. A snood is also a kind of hairnet.
I gobble, I strut, and I spread my tail like a hand of cards. In November I would rather you ordered pizza. What am I? Answer: A turkey. The tom fans his tail to show off, and the bird is the usual Thanksgiving roast.
I grow from the middle of a tom turkey's chest and look like a small dark brush. I share my name with something on a grandfather's chin. What am I? Answer: A beard. A tom's beard is a tuft of coarse, hair-like filaments on the breast.
My farm cousins grow too heavy to leave the ground. I am the same bird in the woods, and I am a fast, agile flier. What kind of turkey am I? Answer: A wild turkey. Wild turkeys fly well; the largest farm turkeys cannot fly at all.
On which side does a turkey wear the most feathers: the left, the right or another? Answer: The outside. Feathers grow only on the outside.
What do you call a turkey on the day after Thanksgiving? Answer: Lucky. It was not chosen for the table.
What do you call a turkey that is running away from the kitchen? Answer: Fast food. (it is food, and it is fast)
What sound does a turkey's telephone make? Answer: "Wing, wing". (ring, ring)
Which fruit dessert does a turkey order every time? Answer: Peach gobbler. (peach cobbler)
Why did the turkey cross the road twice? Answer: To prove it was not chicken. (to be chicken is to be scared)
Why was the turkey sent out of the classroom? Answer: For using fowl language. (foul language; a fowl is a bird)

On the table 20

I am a board that lives in the closet all year. For one day I go into the middle of the table and make it longer. What am I? Answer: The table leaf. An extra leaf slots into the middle of a dining table.
I am a bone shaped like the letter Y. Two people pull me after dinner, and the one with the longer piece makes a wish. What am I? Answer: The wishbone. Pulling the wishbone is an old custom of the turkey dinner.
I am a round tray that spins in the middle of the table, so that nobody has to say "pass the peas". What am I? Answer: A lazy Susan. A lazy Susan is a turntable for serving dishes.
I am called a boat, and I have never seen the sea. I sail from hand to hand down the table, and I pour. What am I? Answer: A gravy boat. A gravy boat is the small pitcher that gravy is served in.
I am orange under a white cloud. I come last, and people who said they were full still find room for me. What am I? Answer: Pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie with whipped cream is the usual dessert.
I am orange underneath and toasted marshmallows on top. Half the table calls me a side dish, and half calls me dessert. What am I? Answer: Sweet potato casserole. Mashed sweet potatoes baked under marshmallows.
I am small, round and warm, and I ride in a basket under a cloth. I am passed along with the butter. What am I? Answer: A dinner roll. Rolls are kept warm in a covered basket.
I am the biggest dish on the table. The bird rides in on me, and I go back to the kitchen with bones. What am I? Answer: The platter. A roast is carried in and carved on a platter.
I am the plate you fill after the first one is empty. My name sounds like sixty ticks of a clock hand. What am I? Answer: Seconds. A second helping, and the seconds on a clock.
I am yellow and crumbly, baked in a skillet or a square pan. My flour used to be kernels. What am I? Answer: Cornbread. Cornbread is made from cornmeal, which is ground corn.
I begin as the juices in the roasting pan. Flour makes me thick, and I end as a brown lake in the potatoes. What am I? Answer: Gravy. Gravy is a sauce made from the juices of the meat.
I leave a can with a hiss, or a bowl after a great deal of whisking. I sit on the pie like a soft white hat. What am I? Answer: Whipped cream. Cream whipped full of air tops the pie.
I sit in the bird with only my head showing. When dinner is ready, I pop up. What am I? Answer: A pop-up timer. A pop-up timer in a roast springs up when the meat is hot enough.
I sit in the middle of the table, made of gourds, leaves and candles. Nobody eats me, and everybody has to look around me. What am I? Answer: The centerpiece. A centerpiece decorates the middle of the table.
I slide out of a can in one piece and keep its ridges. I wobble on the plate, and I am sliced, not spooned. What am I? Answer: Canned cranberry sauce. Jellied cranberry sauce holds the shape of its can.
I start the meal folded like a fan and finish it crumpled in your lap. What am I? Answer: A napkin. A cloth napkin is folded for the table and used up by dessert.
Some families call me dressing. I am bread, onion and herbs, cooked inside the bird or in a dish beside it. What am I? Answer: Stuffing. Stuffing, filling and dressing are names for the same mixture.
We grow on low vines in a bog. Because we float, the farmer floods our field to gather us. What are we? Answer: Cranberries. Harvested cranberries float and are corralled on the flooded bed.
What smells the best at Thanksgiving dinner? Answer: Your nose. Nothing at the table smells better than a nose does.
Why did the farmer drive a steamroller over his potato field in November? Answer: He wanted mashed potatoes. (to mash is to flatten)

Fall and harvest 20

I am a ball of leaves with nothing to hold me by. Peel me, and inside there is only more of me. What am I? Answer: A cabbage. A cabbage is leaves wrapped around leaves.
I am a bundle of cut grain stalks tied around the middle. I stand in the field in pictures of the harvest. What am I? Answer: A sheaf. A sheaf is a tied bundle of wheat or other grain.
I am a cool room dug under the ground. Potatoes, apples and squash sleep in me through the winter. What am I? Answer: A root cellar. A root cellar keeps the harvest cool and dark.
I am a fork with a long handle and no place at the table. I lift hay, not peas. What am I? Answer: A pitchfork. A pitchfork is a farm tool for moving hay.
I am a golden grass about as tall as your waist. A field of me ripples like water, and my seeds are ground for bread. What am I? Answer: Wheat. Wheat is a grass grown for its grain.
I am a horn that nobody blows. Fruit, squash and grain spill out of my open end, and my other name is the horn of plenty. What am I? Answer: A cornucopia. The cornucopia, or horn of plenty, is a symbol of abundance.
I am a machine as big as a house. I drive through the field, cut the grain and shake out the seeds in one pass. What am I? Answer: A combine. A combine harvester cuts and threshes grain at once.
I am a root as red as a valentine. Slice me, and your fingers stay pink until bedtime. What am I? Answer: A beet. Beet juice stains whatever it touches.
I am a round root, white below and purple on top. In Ireland and Britain, Halloween lanterns were once hollowed out of me. What am I? Answer: A turnip. Turnips were hollowed into lanterns before pumpkins took over.
I am a smooth brown nut from a tall tree. In November I am baked into a sweet, sticky pie. What am I? Answer: A pecan. Pecan pie is a Thanksgiving dessert.
I am a tall, round tower beside the barn with no windows. I am filled from the top with the crop that feeds the cows all winter. What am I? Answer: A silo. A silo stores grain or silage.
I am an ear of corn in red, blue, gold and white, too hard to eat off the cob. In fall I hang on the front door in a bunch of three. What am I? Answer: Flint corn. Flint corn has hard kernels in many colors and is hung up as a fall decoration.
I am big and red, with wide doors and a loft full of hay. Animals sleep in me. What am I? Answer: A barn. A barn shelters animals and stores hay.
I am given back to you on the first Sunday of November, at two in the morning, and most people sleep through me. What am I? Answer: An extra hour. Clocks fall back one hour when daylight saving time ends.
I am made of glass, with a flat lid and a metal ring. Summer's peaches wait inside me until winter. What am I? Answer: A canning jar. Fruit is preserved in sealed glass jars.
I am shaped like a bell or a pear, tan outside and orange inside. I am a squash with a creamy name. What am I? Answer: A butternut squash. A butternut squash is tan with orange flesh.
I am the green wrapper on an ear of corn. Peel me back, and under my silk the kernels are waiting. What am I? Answer: A corn husk. The husk is the leafy cover of an ear of corn.
I am the month between the jack-o'-lantern and the Christmas lights. I have thirty days, and one of my Thursdays is a feast. What month am I? Answer: November. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, a month of 30 days.
I am white powder that used to be grain. A mill ground me, and without me there is no pie crust. What am I? Answer: Flour. Flour is grain ground to powder.
Many people call me a yam, and I am not one. I am an orange root from the morning glory family. What am I? Answer: A sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are often called yams in North America, but true yams are a different plant.

Family around the table 20

Every guest brings me to Thanksgiving dinner, and nobody carries me in their hands. I grow all morning while the turkey roasts, and I am gone by the pie. What am I? Answer: An appetite. Hunger builds while dinner cooks and is gone once the meal is eaten.
Everyone at the table says one of me before the meal, and no two people say the same. I am something good from this year. What am I? Answer: Something you are thankful for. Going around the table to give thanks is a Thanksgiving custom.
I am a mountain on the guest bed, made of everybody's jackets. The first to go home has to dig. What am I? Answer: The pile of coats. Guests' coats are heaped on a bed.
I am a small card with butter stains and slanting handwriting. Without me, the stuffing would not taste like Grandma's. What am I? Answer: A recipe card. Family recipes are kept on handwritten cards.
I am giant balloons, marching bands and floats, and I am on the television all morning while the kitchen gets busy. What am I? Answer: The Thanksgiving parade. Parades are held and broadcast on Thanksgiving morning.
I am played in the yard before dinner with a ball that is not round, and watched on the television after it. What am I? Answer: A football game. Football is a Thanksgiving Day tradition.
I am shorter than the big one, my chairs do not match, and nobody sitting at me is over twelve. What am I? Answer: The kids' table. The children's table is set apart from the grown-ups'.
I am the same feast shared with friends, and my name is two words squeezed into one. What am I? Answer: Friendsgiving. Friends plus Thanksgiving.
I am the tallest seat at the table, with a tray of my own. The one who sits in me throws peas. What am I? Answer: A high chair. A baby's high chair has its own tray.
I arrive after the pie. I take Grandpa first, in the armchair, with the game still on. What am I? Answer: A nap. A big dinner is often followed by a doze.
I got up before everyone to put the bird in the oven, and I am the last to sit down. Who am I? Answer: The cook. Whoever roasts the turkey starts early.
I live in the garage or the closet. On Thanksgiving I unfold, and I am given to the youngest uncle. What am I? Answer: A folding chair. Extra guests need extra chairs.
I put Grandma's face on a small screen at the end of the table, so she can see the pie from a thousand miles away. What am I? Answer: A video call. Family far away joins by phone or computer.
I wait under the table without a sound. I have four legs, a hopeful face and a nose for whatever the baby drops. Who am I? Answer: The dog. The family dog hopes for scraps.
On most days I hold one car. Today I hold six, nose to tail, and the last one in must be the first one out. What am I? Answer: The driveway. Cars parked in a line can only leave in reverse order.
Six grown-ups sit at the big table and four children at the small one. Two more cousins arrive, and one uncle moves to the couch. How many people are still at the two tables? Answer: 11 people. 6 + 4 + 2 = 12, and 12 - 1 = 11.
Take the first six letters of this holiday's name. What do you say when someone passes you the rolls? Answer: Thanks. T-H-A-N-K-S, the start of Thanksgiving.
This holiday changes its date every year and never changes its weekday. Which day of the week does it keep? Answer: Thursday. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November.
We are what is still here when dinner is over. Tomorrow we come back as sandwiches, and the day after as soup. What are we? Answer: Leftovers. The turkey that is left becomes sandwiches and soup.
We pile up in the sink higher than on any other night. Somebody washes, somebody dries, and somebody hides. What are we? Answer: The dishes. A feast leaves a mountain of dishes to wash.

How this list was compiled

Written by the Game Night Generator editors on October 3, 2026: 80 Thanksgiving riddles in four sets of 20. Turkeys and gobble jokes describes the bird and tells the playground jokes about it; On the table is the meal from the wishbone to the pie; Fall and harvest is the farm and the field in November; Family around the table is the day itself. The wording is the editors' own. The jokes are old ones that belong to nobody, retold, with the play on words explained after the answer; a few trick questions are traditional forms in new words. None was copied from a book or a site, and no riddle here is on our list of fall riddles or told as a riddle on any other page of this site; some of the facts about the turkey and the table are also asked as quiz questions on our trivia pages. Riddles that state a fact (the parts and names of a turkey, the hairnet called a snood, the wishbone, cranberries, the sweet potato, the horn of plenty, the turnip lantern, the weekday of the holiday, the clock change) keep to the English Wikipedia article on the subject as it read on October 3, 2026 (en.wikipedia.org; text under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, restated in our words). The dates were recomputed for every year of this century. The two levels are the editors' judgment; nobody tested the riddles with a class. Licence: own work