Free Printable Mystery Number Riddles

Each card is a riddle: "I am a three-digit number. My tens digit is 6. My digits add up to 11." Students read the clues, work out one digit at a time and write the answer in hundreds, tens and ones boxes. Four levels from 2-digit numbers to decimals, two sheets each, with the answer key on page 2.

2-digit numbers (grades 1 and 2)

Mystery Number Riddles: 2‑Digit, Set A printable preview

Mystery Number Riddles: 2‑Digit, Set A

Grades 1–2

Six riddles with two or three clues each: tens and ones digits, more than and less than, odd and even, counting by 10s. Includes answer key.

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Mystery Number Riddles: 2‑Digit, Set B printable preview

Mystery Number Riddles: 2‑Digit, Set B

Grades 1–2

Five riddles, including rounding to the nearest ten, plus a card to make up your own mystery number for a friend. Includes answer key.

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24 picturesAddition and Subtraction Mystery Pictures Pack preview

Addition and Subtraction Mystery Pictures Pack

Grades 1–2

24 pictures for grades 1-2, step by step from adding within 10 to subtracting across 10.

Pack: $6

3-digit numbers (grades 2 and 3)

Mystery Number Riddles: 3‑Digit, Set A printable preview

Mystery Number Riddles: 3‑Digit, Set A

Grades 2–3

Six riddles about hundreds, tens and ones: digit clues, adding the digits, counting by 5s and rounding to the nearest hundred. Includes answer key.

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Mystery Number Riddles: 3‑Digit, Set B printable preview

Mystery Number Riddles: 3‑Digit, Set B

Grades 2–3

Five riddles, including "I have 58 tens in all", plus a make-your-own card. Includes answer key.

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5 casesGrade 3 Math Mysteries: all 5 cases cover

Grade 3 Math Mysteries: All 5 Cases

Grade 3

Five detective cases: solve multiplication, division, fraction, area and time problems to unlock clues and catch the culprit.

Free mini mystery · All 5: $15

4-digit numbers (grades 3 and 4)

Mystery Number Riddles: 4‑Digit, Set A printable preview

Mystery Number Riddles: 4‑Digit, Set A

Grades 3–4

Six riddles with thousands: digit clues, rounding to the nearest thousand and "I have 45 hundreds in all". Includes answer key.

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Mystery Number Riddles: 4‑Digit, Set B printable preview

Mystery Number Riddles: 4‑Digit, Set B

Grades 3–4

Five riddles, including "I have 312 tens in all", plus a make-your-own card. Includes answer key.

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20 puzzlesArea Logic Puzzles printable preview

Area Logic Puzzles

Grades 3–4

A shape cut into same-shaped parts, one value given: find every part and the whole. No measuring, one answer.

Free sample sheet · Level 3: $5

Decimals (grades 4 and 5)

Mystery Number Riddles: Decimals, Set A printable preview

Mystery Number Riddles: Decimals, Set A

Grades 4–5

Six riddles with ones, tenths and hundredths: digit clues, rounding to the nearest whole number and "I have 93 tenths in all". Includes answer key.

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Mystery Number Riddles: Decimals, Set B printable preview

Mystery Number Riddles: Decimals, Set B

Grades 4–5

Five decimal riddles plus a make-your-own card. Includes answer key.

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20 puzzlesDecimal Area Logic Puzzles printable preview

Decimal Area Logic Puzzles

Grades 4–5

Every part of the shape is worth a decimal: halve, quarter and add tenths and hundredths to find each part and the whole.

Free sample sheet · Level 7: $5

About the Mystery Number Riddles

A mystery number riddle gives a few clues about a number and asks the student to find it. The clues on these sheets are about place value: what digit is in which place, how the digits compare, what they add up to, and where the number falls. To solve one, a child has to treat a number as a set of digits in places, which is exactly the skill place value lessons are after.

Every riddle on this page was checked by a program before it was printed. It has exactly one answer, and every clue is needed: take any clue away and more than one number would fit. Many riddle sheets include clues that do nothing, and children learn to skip them. Here each clue matters, so reading all of them pays off.

The answer goes in a row of boxes labeled hundreds, tens and ones (or tenths and hundredths for decimals). That lets a child fill in a digit as soon as a clue gives it away, in any order. A star marks the harder riddles, such as a number that rounds up to the next hundred or "I have 58 tens in all". The B sheets end with a Make Your Own card: the child writes clues for a friend and folds the answer under.

For practice with the same ideas, see the place value worksheets, the place value chart and the rounding worksheets. For other kinds of number puzzle, see the math puzzles.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a mystery number riddle?
It is a puzzle that describes a number with clues, such as "I am a three-digit number. My hundreds digit is 4. My tens digit is double my hundreds digit. My digits add up to 14." The student uses the clues to work out the number, here 482.
What grades are these for?
Grades 1 to 5. The 2-digit riddles suit grades 1 and 2, the 3-digit riddles grades 2 and 3, the 4-digit riddles grades 3 and 4, and the decimal riddles grades 4 and 5.
Does every riddle have one answer?
Yes. A program tries every number at that level against the clues. A riddle is only used if exactly one number fits and if dropping any one clue would let more than one number fit.
How do I solve a mystery number riddle?
Start with the clue that tells you a digit outright and write it in its box. Then use that digit with the other clues, such as "my tens digit is double my hundreds digit". Leave the clue about adding the digits until last: once the other digits are known, it gives the missing one.
Do the worksheets have answer keys?
Yes. Every sheet is a two-page PDF with the answer key on the second page.