CAN YOU FIGURE OUT THIS? What has a mouth, but cannot eat; moves, but has no legs; and has a bank, but cannot put money in it?
A short, clever riddle asks: “What has a mouth, but cannot eat; moves, but has no legs; and has a bank, but cannot put money in it?”
At first glance, the clues seem to describe a living thing or even a person. But the wording is designed to make you think in multiple meanings of common words.
The Correct Answer
Answer: A river.
Why the Answer Is “A River”
- “Has a mouth, but cannot eat”
- A river has a mouth: the place where it empties into a larger body of water (like an ocean, sea, or lake).
- “Moves, but has no legs”
- A river moves continuously as water flows downstream, even though it has no legs.
- “Has a bank, but cannot put money in it”
- A river has banks: the land along the sides of the water.
- This “bank” is not a financial bank, so you cannot deposit money there.
Key Vocabulary in the Riddle
- Mouth (of a river): Where the river ends and flows into another body of water
- Moves: The natural flow of water from higher to lower ground
- Bank (of a river): The edges of land beside the river channel
Why This Riddle Tricks People
- It uses double meanings (also called wordplay)
- The brain often jumps to the most common meaning first:
- Mouth = eating
- Bank = money
- The “aha” moment happens when you switch to the geography meanings of those words.
Conclusion
This riddle is a classic example of simple language hiding a smart twist. Once you recognize that “mouth” and “bank” can describe parts of nature, the answer becomes clear: a river.