Are you good at thinking on your feet?
Do people often tell you that you have a quick wit?
If so, then you probably excel at word play trivia.
Word play trivia questions require you to think outside the box to find the right answer.
This type of trivia often includes puns, riddles, and tongue-twisting teasers.
Word play trivia quizzes are the perfect way to test your wit and see how fast you can think under pressure.
So, if you're feeling up for a challenge, we've got 87 word play trivia questions for you.
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87 Word Play Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2023)
- If someone suggested you walk 5,280 ft in a man’s shoes before judging him, what familiar distance term did this person probably mean to say?
Answer: Mile
- If you combine a word meaning the opposite of “old”, and a shirt that athletes wear that links them to their team, you get what 30th state alphabetically in the US?
Answer: New Jersey
- What is a monkey’s favorite low-end luxury clothing and accessories retailer? They imagine an entire Republic filed with a certain fruit, even if it is already owned by Gap.
Answer: Banana Republic
- You get six tries to guess a five-letter word. That's the gist of what hot internet video game of 2022 that anagrams to EW LORD?
Answer: Wordle
- Ironically, the word "coronavirus" anagrams to what adjective, which also starts with a C, that means "subsisting or feeding on animal tissues?"
Answer: Carnivorous
- Salix babylonica is the scientific name of what droopy Asian tree that anagrams to WOW, WILLING PEE?
Answer: Weeping Willow
- The phrase "dirty room" can be anagrammed into what 9-letter word for a college residence that might contain many a dirty room?
Answer: Dormitory
- Add one letter to "Las Vegas" to get the title of what 2013 film, in which Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline play a group of friends having one final bachelor party?
Answer: Last Vegas
- What four letter word can be a man’s name, part of a duck or a proposed law?
Answer: Bill
- "Respect" is an Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson, but "respect" also anagrams to what other film title -- the 2015 installment in the James Bond series?
Answer: Spectre
- A "lemniscate" is a fancy word for what symbol that is used to express something without end?
Answer: Infinity symbol
- What rhyming brand of low-calorie meals did Stouffer's introduce in 1981 in response to consumers' desires for diet dinner options?
Answer: Lean Cuisine
- If the actress Cybill Shepherd somehow became embroiled in the war between the Northern United States and the Confederacy that occurred from 1861 to 1865, her name could be ______ Shepherd. Fill in the one word “C” blank, a word used to refer to that war.
Answer: Civil Shepherd
- Which two rhyming words describe a utensil you use for eating a pig?
Answer: Pork Fork
- Which two rhyming words describe a utensil you’d use to eat soup on a lunar surface?
Answer: Moon Spoon
- "Presbyterians" is not just a religious denomination -- it's also an anagram of the name of what singer of "Toxic" and "Gimme More?" First and last name required.
Answer: Britney Spears
- What word for a group of lions also sounds like the past tense word for inquiring into a person’s private affairs?
Answer: Pride
- Which two rhyming words describe a gritty beach grain with no taste?
Answer: Bland Sand
- What rich EU country anagrams to RUB EX MOGUL?
Answer: Luxembourg
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? A zippered piece of warm outerwear for a Serena Williams tool.
Answer: Racket Jacket
- What five-letter word can be an organ of the body, a Central American currency, the surname of a Super Bowl XLIII winner, or a punctuation mark?
Answer: Colon
- Howard Stern is a proponent of what product, a stool that is placed next to the toilet in order to improve the user’s posture and reduce stress? It has a two word rhyming name. The first word-y refers to your posture, and the second word-y is a childish term for the toilet.
Answer: Squatty Potty
- What word, which describes something that can be found on college campuses across the country, appropriately anagrams to DIRTY ROOM?
Answer: Dormitory
- Remove the first letter from a six-letter breed of hunting dog, and you'll get a five-letter predatory bird. What are the two words?
Answer: Beagle, eagle
- She'll only pay pennies and dimes for a kiss, but her whole soul for a wish. So go the weird economics of what Carly Rae Jepsen hit that anagrams to MY ABLE CAMEL?
Answer: Call Me Maybe
- What two-word rhyming phrase could be used to describe a person who runs at high speed over short distances, but only during one of the four seasons?
Answer: Winter sprinter
- If the reign in Spain falls mainly on the ______, then King Ferdinand’s reign would’ve likely ended in what kind of land, flat with few trees?
Answer: Plain
- Obsidian, charcoal, pepper, crows, soot. These are just a few colorful items that might go on what list, perhaps curated by James Spader?
Answer: The Blacklist
- What rhyming phrase might refer to the dried and salted meat of animals of the species Meleagris?
Answer: Turkey jerky
- Cobb County's Truist Park is the home stadium for what Major League Baseball team that anagrams to NAVAL BASE TART?
Answer: Atlanta Braves
- "Dog doo good god!" is a sentence that reads the same backwards and forwards. This is an example of what literary device?
Answer: Palindrome
- A requirement that driver's license applicants get an opportunity to register to vote earned The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 what rhyming nickname?
Answer: Motor Voter
- If you had a long, thin, flat piece of wood to be used for building materials, but the wood was made of the ace of spades and the two of clubs, people might think you have what paper pulp product often used in shipping boxes?
Answer: Cardboard
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? The charity network whose motto is "service above self," and a person who witnesses signatures on official documents.
Answer: Rotary Notary
- If a stinging insect were to be compressed by a mechanical press, what musical note might describe this newly skinny insect?
Answer: Bee Flat
- Which two rhyming words could describe having an ache in your thinking organ?
Answer: Brain Pain
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? A hat a bunny nun would wear.
Answer: Rabbit Habit
- The star of "Taken" and Mr. Payne of One Direction have given names that anagram to the name of what West African country?
Answer: Mali
- Named for a Nashville hotel and perfect for a pick-me-up, what American coffee brand anagrams to ME SEXUAL HOWL?
Answer: Maxwell House
- What word, when pronounced differently, might be applied to a group of organized workers or a molecule without a net electrical charge?
Answer: Unionized
- What Swiss watchmaking company is a contraction of the phrase “second watch”?
Answer: Swatch
- If there were a boat vacation for small cats of the family Felidae, it might share its name with what famous actor?
Answer: Tom Cruise
- What pair of rhyming words describes the following phrase? A comfortable piece of lounging furniture for a green-skinned trashcan denizen.
Answer: Couch Grouch
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? A rainy-day invertebrate writhing uncomfortably.
Answer: Worm Squirm
- What word is spelled with a “Q” in the United Kingdom, is derived from a Greek word meaning “sweet root” and is Ronald Reagan’s favorite Jelly Belly jelly bean flavor?
Answer: Licorice
- Reverse the letters in the name of a vegetable that's a relative of the onion and you get a word that refers to a certain structure on a ship or boat. What are BOTH of these four-letter words?
Answer: Keel, Leek
- What word, when pronounced differently, might refer either to a vehicle like the Yamaha FS1, or a past tense verb meaning "brooded" or "sulked?"
Answer: Moped
- What word has both of the following meanings? A tightly bound bundle or the surname of the actor who played Dick Cheney in the 2018 film "Vice."
Answer: Bale
- What education-related word has two distinct meanings both related to books? The first is simply an organized listing of books (often at the end of a piece of research) and the second is a more systematic description of books as physical objects.
Answer: Bibliography
- If you leave the vowels where they are, but replace the consonants in 'banana' with different letters, you can get what fruit commonly found in Mexico and Central America?
Answer: Papaya
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? To rapidly drink not just a large amount of hot liquid, but the vessel containing the liquid as well.
Answer: Chug mug
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? A sweet, Southern, bourbon-centric drink covered with the national flower of the Netherlands.
Answer: Tulip Julep
- What word--the plural form of a travel professional that's more politely called by a different term these days--is famously the longest word typed using only the left hand on a standard QWERTY keyboard?
Answer: Stewardesses
- Change one letter each in the first and last names of actor Harrison Ford and you get two words that are, practically speaking, synonymous. What are these two words?
Answer: Garrison and Fort
- What word means the following two things? A polyhedron formed by connecting a polygon to an apex or a game show that often included a number in its official title and won nine Daytime Emmy Awards.
Answer: Pyramid
- A bronx bomber, an absentminded scribble, and a man who places importance on physical appearance and refined language come together to form what song and American standard?
Answer: Yankee Doodle Dandy
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? A tiny amount of a kitchen cooling device.
Answer: Smidge fridge
- If a “S” red food fish with omega-3 fatty acids is identical to another batch, it could be also be called same-on in addition to what?
Answer: Salmon
- If you saw some peat moss, and then you saw that same moss again, you might call it ______ moss. Fill in the one word “R” blank, also a word for saying something again that has already been said.
Answer: Repeat Moss
- Take the name of the UK's monarch from 1702 to 1707 and add a letter that can also mean the number 10. What word meaning a building extension do you get?
Answer: Annex
- What word could mean the people in the stadium cheering on the football team and the handheld wind-makers they’re using to stay cool?
Answer: Fans
- According to a famous Spoonerism, a kind of speech error where sounds are swapped between words, "The Lord is" what kind of pushy African cat?
Answer: A Shoving Leopard
- Harry Potter fans already know that there’s a spoiler in Tom Marvolo Riddle’s name—it’s an anagram for “I am ______ ______”
Answer: Lord Voldemort
- What plural word--which describes something you might list during a job interview--is the longest English word, at nine letters, with only one vowel?
Answer: Strengths
- Anagrams are a great art! In fact, the word ANAGRAMS is an anagram of what Latin phrase meaning "great art?"
Answer: Ars Magna
- "Round Mound of Rebound" was a college nickname for what NBA All-Star whose name anagrams to SKY REACH BALLER?
Answer: Charles Barkley
- What pair of rhyming words describes the following phrase? An easily deceived, foolish remnant of a removed tree.
Answer: Stump chump
- Without a U, it's a tree of the willow family. With a U in the middle, it's a song sung by Glinda in the Broadway show "Wicked." What are the two words?
Answer: Poplar and Popular
- What rhyming phrase, which might sound like a Dromedary owned by a certain Star Wars star, actually refers to an ice skating spin popularized by its namesake athlete?
Answer: Hamill Camel
- What two-word rhyming phrase could mean the following? Trefoil found surrounding the Capitol in Delaware.
Answer: Dover Clover
- Which two rhyming words could describe a petrifying pixie?
Answer: Scary Fairy
- What word is partially defined by MacMillan Dictionary as “a party or special event” and is a Floridian town originally built by the Walt Disney Company in 1994?
Answer: Celebration
- If the 19th century wild west showman and bison hunter switched careers and became an SNL cast member turned star of “Meatballs” and “Lost In Translation”, what three-word “before and after” name would he be?
Answer: Buffalo Bill Murray
- What word, when pronounced differently, might refer to a language of 45 million native speakers--or something you might pick up in the beauty aisle at CVS?
Answer: Polish
- Add the letter T to the nickname of Beethoven's third symphony, and you get the name of a 1992 Madonna album. What are the names of the symphony and the album, respectively?
Answer: Eroica, Erotica
- If Isaac Singer, 19th century inventor and founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, did some vocals on album produced by Miles Davis, with saxophone by John Coltrane, he could be called The ______ Singer. Fill in the one word blank.
Answer: The Jazz Singer
- _____ on the ______. Fill in the first blank with the last name of the British character who played Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings films. Fill in the second blank with a type of stove, and you get an alternate spelling of what country western standard?
Answer: Holm On The Range
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? An even-tempered, secure piece of household furniture.
Answer: Stable table
- Fitness has a surprisingly large number of meanings. Of course there is the state of health and well-being, and then biological fitness is an individual's ability to propagate its genes. There's also the product Fitness which is produced by Nestle and is what type of food?
Answer: Cereal
- If a beaver built a barrier in a pond to protect itself from a submarine’s missiles, what commanding phrase might the beaver exclaim?
Answer: Dam The Torpedos
- If, on “The White Album”, the Beatles said “you say you want to turn 360 degrees, well, you know, we all want to point back the same way,” they might be referring to a full version of what “R” geometric movement?
Answer: Revolution
- A new word for topics related to marijuana could be the same as what process of forming objects out of ceramic material with high heat?
Answer: Pottery
- What two rhyming words summarize the following phrase? A gatherer and organizer of large, dangerous jungle felines.
Answer: Leopard shepherd
- A person locked into a schedule, or a monster formed out of a nun’s vestment. They both might be described with what familiar three-word phrase?
Answer: Creature Of Habit
- A 1983 Lewis Gilbert film about an alcoholic professor, played by Michael Caine, who mentors the 1940s actress who starred in “Gilda” would have what three word “before and after” movie title?
Answer: Educating Rita Hayworth
- A palindrome is a word or phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards; what is the corresponding term for words that become different words when read backward, such as STRAW and WARTS?
Answer: Semordnilap
- A saying attributed to Jesus, and the disrespect from a honey insect. Both can help you form what word?
Answer: Beatitude
What makes word play trivia so engaging?
For starters, it's the perfect way to test your lateral thinking skills.
Lateral thinking is all about looking at things from a different perspective - something that comes in handy when trying to solve puzzles and riddles.
It's also a great way to improve your problem-solving skills.
Word play trivia often requires you to think outside the box to find the right answer.
And, as we all know, the ability to solve problems quickly and efficiently is a valuable skill in both our personal and professional lives.
What are the best word play trivia questions?
The best word play trivia questions are the ones that make you think, laugh, and scratch your head all at the same time.
They're the ones that take you on a mental rollercoaster ride as you try to figure out the answer.
And, they're the ones that leave you feeling both satisfied and triumphant when you finally get it right.
If you're looking for some word play trivia questions that fit these criteria, then you've come to the right place.
Whether you're looking for a quick warm-up or a challenge that will really test your brain power, we've got you covered.
Where can you find word play trivia questions?
Finding word play trivia questions is easy.
Simply head on over to Water Cooler Trivia.
Water Cooler Trivia is a platform dedicated to providing trivia quizzes that are both fun and challenging.
We just so happen to have a whole section devoted to word play trivia.
Our trivia quiz platform is a game-changer for trivia lovers.
Not only does it offer an easy way to find and play trivia quizzes, but it also allows you to share tailor-made quizzes with the world.
So, if you're feeling inspired, why not give it a try?
How can you create the perfect word play trivia quiz?
Creating the perfect word play trivia quiz is easy with Water Cooler Trivia.
All you need to do is sign up for a free account.
Our trivia pros will do all the heavy lifting for you.
That's right, we'll craft engaging, challenging, and downright fun quizzes for you.
You can sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
What are you waiting for?
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.