Multiplication Riddles: 30 Times-Table Puzzles with Answers on Riddlepedia
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Multiplication Riddles: 30 Times-Table Puzzles with Answers

30 riddles · tap Hint or Answer to reveal

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Multiplication is just fast adding. Instead of counting 8 + 8 + 8, you say “three eights” and jump straight to 24. Once kids see that, the times tables stop being a list to memorize and become a set of patterns to spot, and that’s exactly what multiplication riddles are good at.

These 30 multiplication riddles are written for grades 2 to 5. The easy round covers skip counting, arrays and the words we use, the medium round has the clever tricks for 9s, 10s and 11s plus short word problems, and the tricky round has mystery numbers and puzzles that need two steps. Every answer has been checked, and the working is shown.

Easy Multiplication Riddles

I look like a little letter x. Put me between 3 and 4, and you get 12. What am I?

Hint
You might call me by the word “times.”
Answer
The multiplication sign

You have 9 pairs of socks. How many socks is that?

Hint
Count by 2s, nine times.
Answer
18 socks. 9 × 2 = 18.

Multiply any number by me, and the answer is that same number. 7 × me = 7, and 250 × me = 250. Which number am I?

Hint
I’m the smallest counting number.
Answer
1

Multiply any number by me, and the answer is always the same: nothing at all. Which number am I?

Hint
Three plates with no cookies on each one is how many cookies?
Answer
0

A spider has 8 legs. How many legs do 4 spiders have?

Hint
Double 8, then double it again.
Answer
32 legs. 4 × 8 = 32.

A nickel is worth 5 cents. How many cents are 9 nickels worth?

Hint
Skip count by 5s: 5, 10, 15…
Answer
45 cents. 9 × 5 = 45.

What is 10 × 46?

Hint
Multiplying a whole number by 10 has a shortcut. Look at the end of the number.
Answer
  1. When you multiply a whole number by 10, just put a zero on the end.

Three kids hold up both hands. How many fingers are they holding up altogether?

Hint
Each hand has 5 fingers, and each kid has 2 hands.
Answer
30 fingers. 3 × 2 = 6 hands, and 6 × 5 = 30.

I’m the answer you get when you multiply. In 3 × 5 = 15, I’m the 15. What am I called?

Hint
Factories make one, and so do multiplication problems.
Answer
The product

I’m a neat rectangle of dots or objects in rows and columns, like 4 rows of 5 stickers. I help you see multiplication. What am I?

Hint
An egg carton is a good example of me.
Answer
An array

Medium Multiplication Riddles

Hold up all 10 fingers. To find 9 × 7, fold down your 7th finger from the left. There are 6 fingers up on the left and 3 on the right. What is 9 × 7?

Hint
Read the fingers as tens and ones.
Answer
63

I’m a number. Multiply me by myself and you get 36. What number am I?

Hint
I’m the number of legs on an insect.
Answer
  1. 6 × 6 = 36.

4 × 7 gives the same answer as 7 × 4. You can swap the numbers in any multiplication and the answer stays the same. What is this rule called?

Hint
Its name is related to “commute,” which means to travel back and forth.
Answer
The commutative property

A box holds 8 crayons. Ms. Lee buys 6 boxes for her art table. How many crayons does she have?

Hint
Think of 6 groups of 8.
Answer
48 crayons. 6 × 8 = 48.

A week has 7 days. How many days are in 5 weeks?

Hint
Count by 7s: 7, 14, 21…
Answer
35 days. 5 × 7 = 35.

A tricycle has 3 wheels. How many wheels are on 7 tricycles?

Hint
“Tri” means three.
Answer
21 wheels. 7 × 3 = 21.

I’m the product of 3 and 4, and also of 2 and 6. Bakers sell eggs and doughnuts by me, and they call me a dozen. What number am I?

Hint
Count the months in a year.
Answer
12

1, 4, 9, 16, 25… Each of these numbers is a number times itself. What is the 7th number in the list?

Hint
1 × 1, 2 × 2, 3 × 3, and keep going.
Answer
  1. 7 × 7 = 49.

11 × 6 = 66, 11 × 7 = 77, and 11 × 8 = 88. What is 11 × 9?

Hint
Look at the pattern in the answers.
Answer
  1. For 1 to 9, multiplying by 11 just writes the digit twice.

A classroom has 5 rows of desks with 6 desks in each row. Two desks are empty today. How many kids are sitting at desks?

Hint
Find all the desks first, then take away the empty ones.
Answer
28 kids. 5 × 6 = 30, and 30 − 2 = 28.

Tricky Multiplication Riddles

I’m thinking of a number. I multiply it by 4, then add 3, and I get 31. What is my number?

Hint
Work backward: undo the adding first.
Answer
  1. 31 − 3 = 28, and 28 ÷ 4 = 7.

Two numbers multiply to make 24 and add up to 10. What are they?

Hint
List the pairs that multiply to 24, then add each pair.
Answer
4 and 6. 4 × 6 = 24 and 4 + 6 = 10.

There are 4 quarters in a dollar, and each quarter is worth 25 cents. What is 25 × 4?

Hint
How many cents are in one dollar?
Answer
100

A farmer counts 10 heads and 28 legs among her cows and chickens. How many cows does she have?

Hint
If all 10 were chickens, there would be 20 legs. Each cow adds 2 extra legs.
Answer
4 cows. 4 cows have 16 legs and 6 chickens have 12 legs, which makes 28.

To multiply a number by 4, you can double it, then double the answer. How many times do you double a number to multiply it by 8?

Hint
2 × 2 = 4, and 4 × 2 = 8.
Answer
Three times. For example, 6 → 12 → 24 → 48, and 6 × 8 = 48.

Which is bigger: 6 × 7 or 5 × 8?

Hint
Work out both. They’re closer than you’d think.
Answer
6 × 7. It makes 42, and 5 × 8 makes 40.

Besides 0, I’m the only number that gives the same answer when you add me to myself and when you multiply me by myself. What number am I?

Hint
Try small numbers.
Answer
  1. 2 + 2 = 4 and 2 × 2 = 4.

Nine friends each want 2 slices of pizza. Every pizza is cut into 8 slices. What’s the smallest number of whole pizzas they need to order?

Hint
Find the total slices, then see how many pizzas cover it.
Answer
3 pizzas. 9 × 2 = 18 slices, 2 pizzas give only 16, and 3 pizzas give 24.

Look at the 9 times table from 9 × 1 to 9 × 10: 9, 18, 27, 36… Add the digits of each answer. What do you always get?

Hint
Try 18 and 27 first.
Answer
  1. 1 + 8 = 9, 2 + 7 = 9, and so on up to 9 + 0 = 9.

Skip count by 7s, starting at 7. What is the 8th number you say?

Hint
The answer is 7 × 8. Remember the trick “5, 6, 7, 8.”
Answer
  1. 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56.

Multiplication Games for the Classroom

  • Array hunt: before the riddles, send students to find real arrays in the room: egg cartons, window panes, tiles. Each array they write as a multiplication sentence earns a bonus riddle.
  • Finger nines: after the 9s riddle, have everyone use the finger trick for 9 × 3 to 9 × 9 and check the answers against the digit-sum riddle.
  • Riddle race: split the class into teams. Read a word problem, and the first team to show the multiplication sentence and the answer on a whiteboard scores. Show the working, not just the number.
  • Write your own: students write a word problem about something they love, like legs on pets or wheels on bikes, and swap with a partner to solve.

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