Fraction Riddles: 30 Pizza, Pie and Word Puzzles with Answers on Riddlepedia
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Fraction Riddles: 30 Pizza, Pie and Word Puzzles with Answers

30 riddles · tap Hint or Answer to reveal

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Fractions are everywhere once you start looking: half a sandwich, a quarter of an hour, the last slice of pie that everybody wants. A fraction just tells you how many equal parts something is cut into (the bottom number) and how many of those parts you have (the top number).

These 30 fraction riddles come in three rounds. The easy round is halves, thirds and quarters for grades 2 and 3, the medium round has equivalent fractions, comparing and fractions of a group for grades 3 and 4, and the tricky round has multi-step puzzles for grades 4 and 5. Every answer shows the working, so kids can check how they got there.

Easy Fraction Riddles

A pizza is cut into 2 equal pieces. What fraction of the pizza is each piece?

Hint
There are two pieces, and each one is the same size.
Answer
One half (1/2)

A pie is cut into 4 equal slices, and Dad eats 1 slice. What fraction of the pie did he eat?

Hint
The bottom number is how many slices there are in all.
Answer
One quarter (1/4). 1 slice out of 4.

I’m a fraction with the same number on top and on bottom, like 5/5. What whole number am I equal to?

Hint
If you cut a cake into 5 pieces and eat all 5, how much cake did you eat?
Answer
  1. 5/5 is the whole thing.

I’m the bottom number of a fraction. I tell you how many equal parts the whole was cut into. What am I called?

Hint
My name starts with “de,” and my partner on top is the numerator.
Answer
The denominator

How many eggs are in half a dozen?

Hint
A dozen is 12.
Answer
6 eggs. 12 ÷ 2 = 6.

A sandwich is cut into quarters. How many quarters do you need to eat the whole sandwich?

Hint
“Quarter” comes from a word that means “fourth.”
Answer
4 quarters. 4/4 = 1 whole.

Two pies are the same size. One is cut into thirds and the other into sixths. Which is bigger: one third or one sixth?

Hint
The more pieces you cut, the smaller each piece gets.
Answer
One third (1/3). 1/3 is the same as 2/6.

What fraction of the letters in the word PIZZA are Z?

Hint
Count all the letters, then count the Z’s.
Answer
2/5. PIZZA has 5 letters, and 2 of them are Z.

A chocolate bar has 10 squares. You eat 3/10 of the bar. How many squares are left?

Hint
3/10 of 10 squares is 3 squares.
Answer
7 squares. 10 − 3 = 7.

Mom bakes 9 cookies and gives one third of them to the neighbors. How many cookies do the neighbors get?

Hint
Split the 9 cookies into 3 equal piles.
Answer
3 cookies. 9 ÷ 3 = 3.

Medium Fraction Riddles

Ella ate 3/4 of her pizza. Her pizza was cut into 8 slices. How many eighths did she eat?

Hint
Each quarter of the pizza is the same as 2 eighths.
Answer
6/8. 3/4 = 6/8, because 3 × 2 = 6 and 4 × 2 = 8.

At lunch you eat 1/4 of a pie, and at dinner you eat 2/4 more. How much of the pie have you eaten?

Hint
When the bottom numbers match, just add the top numbers.
Answer
3/4 of the pie. 1/4 + 2/4 = 3/4.

A pizza has 8 slices. You eat 2 slices and your sister eats 1. What fraction of the pizza is left?

Hint
First count how many slices are gone.
Answer
5/8. 8 − 2 − 1 = 5 slices left out of 8.

Which is more: 2/3 of a cake or 3/5 of the same cake?

Hint
Turn both into fifteenths.
Answer
2/3. 2/3 = 10/15 and 3/5 = 9/15.

Grandpa cuts a pie into thirds. Then he cuts his own third in half to share with you. What fraction of the whole pie do you get?

Hint
Half of a third. How many pieces that size would fill the pie?
Answer
1/6. 1/2 × 1/3 = 1/6.

There are 24 kids in a class, and one third of them bring lunch from home. How many kids bring lunch from home?

Hint
Split 24 into 3 equal groups.
Answer
8 kids. 24 ÷ 3 = 8.

After a party, there are 9 quarter-pizzas left over. How many whole pizzas could you make by putting them back together?

Hint
4 quarters make 1 whole pizza.
Answer
2 1/4 pizzas. 9/4 = 2 wholes and 1 quarter left over.

What fraction of an hour is 12 minutes?

Hint
There are 60 minutes in an hour. How many 12s fit in 60?
Answer
1/5. 12/60 = 1/5.

What fraction of a dollar is one dime?

Hint
A dollar is 100 cents, and a dime is 10 cents.
Answer
1/10. 10/100 = 1/10.

What fraction of the week is the weekend?

Hint
Count the days in a week, then count the weekend days.
Answer
2/7. Saturday and Sunday are 2 of the 7 days.

Tricky Fraction Riddles

I’m thinking of a number. Two thirds of my number is 10. What’s my number?

Hint
If 2 thirds are 10, then 1 third is 5.
Answer
  1. 1/3 of 15 is 5, so 2/3 is 10.

A pizza has 12 slices. Mia eats 1/3 of the pizza and Leo eats 1/4 of it. How many slices are left?

Hint
Work out how many slices each of them ate first.
Answer
5 slices. Mia eats 4 slices and Leo eats 3, and 12 − 4 − 3 = 5.

What fraction of the letters in MISSISSIPPI are S?

Hint
Count every letter carefully. It’s a long word.
Answer
4/11. MISSISSIPPI has 11 letters, and 4 of them are S.

There’s 3/4 of a pie in the fridge. You eat half of what’s there. How much of the whole pie is left now?

Hint
Half of 3 quarters is the same as 3 eighths.
Answer
3/8 of the pie. 1/2 × 3/4 = 3/8.

A brick weighs 1 pound plus half of a brick. How much does a whole brick weigh?

Hint
If 1 pound is the other half of the brick, what is a whole brick?
Answer
2 pounds. Half a brick is 1 pound, so the whole brick is 2 pounds.

I had a bag of cookies. I ate half of them, then I ate half of the cookies that were left. Now there are 3 cookies. How many did I start with?

Hint
Work backward: double 3, then double again.
Answer
12 cookies. 12 → 6 → 3.

Which is bigger: 4/7 or 5/9?

Hint
Cross-multiply: compare 4 × 9 with 5 × 7.
Answer
4/7. 4 × 9 = 36 is more than 5 × 7 = 35, so 4/7 is a tiny bit bigger.

The ancient Egyptians wrote most fractions as sums of different fractions with 1 on top, like 1/3 + 1/5. How would they write 3/4 using two of them?

Hint
Start with the biggest one of those fractions there is.
Answer
1/2 + 1/4. That’s 2/4 + 1/4 = 3/4.

A pancake recipe needs 3/4 cup of milk. You want to make a double batch. How much milk do you need?

Hint
Add 3/4 and 3/4.
Answer
1 1/2 cups. 3/4 + 3/4 = 6/4 = 1 1/2.

What fraction of the word FRACTION is the letter T?

Hint
Count the letters in the word first.
Answer
1/8. FRACTION has 8 letters, and only 1 is T.

Fraction Games for the Classroom

  • Pizza points: draw a big pizza cut into 8 slices for each team. A right answer colors in a slice, and a right answer with the working said out loud colors in two. First team to a whole pizza wins.
  • Fold it: for the easy round, give every kid a paper strip to fold into halves, quarters and eighths, and let them check their answers by folding.
  • Word hunt: after the letter riddles, kids pick a word (their name works great) and write “what fraction of my name is the letter ___?” for a partner.
  • Snack math: at snack time, ask what fraction of the crackers or orange slices each kid gets, and simplify it together.

Want more number fun? Try our math brain teasers, these Thanksgiving math riddles or our number riddles.