Each puzzle hides a common phrase in the way its words are placed, split or spelled. Type the phrase you see. Stuck? Reveal a letter or skip ahead.
Puzzle 1 of 40Solved 0 of 40
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How to play
Look at how the words sit on the page.
Use the blanks to see how many letters each word has.
Type the phrase. It is checked as you type.
Reveal a letter fills in the blanks one letter at a time. Show the answer gives it to you, though that puzzle will not count as solved until you type it yourself on another try.
Rebus puzzle examples with answers
Here is how the common tricks work:
Position: MIND above MATTER is mind over matter.
Under: STAND above I is I understand.
Numbers of things: CYCLE three times is a tricycle.
Reversed: ECNALG is a backward glance.
Inside: ROBIN inside HOOD (HOROBINOD) is Robin Hood.
Missing: BUSINES, with the last letter gone, is unfinished business.
Split: BAN ANA is a banana split.
Sounds: PAIR DICE, said out loud, is paradise.
Why rebuses are so old
Rebuses go back centuries. Writers and artists used pictures for sounds in medieval coats of arms, where a family name could be shown with an object, and Lewis Carroll sent rebus letters to children. Hieroglyphs used the same idea: a picture of one thing could stand for the sound of another word. You can try that in our hieroglyphics translator.
A rebus shows a word or phrase using the position, size or spelling of words and letters. MAN written above BOARD, for example, reads as man overboard. Picture rebuses work the same way, with images standing in for sounds.
How do you solve a rebus?
Say out loud what you see, and describe where things are. Is one word over, under or inside another? Is it split, backward or missing a letter? Is it repeated? Then listen for a phrase you know.
Do I have to type the answer exactly?
Close to it. Capitals, punctuation and the small words a, an and the do not matter. The answer is accepted as soon as you finish typing it.
Where is my progress saved?
In this browser, with no account. Solved puzzles turn solid in the number grid, and you can jump to any puzzle at any time.
Are rebus puzzles good for kids and classrooms?
Yes. They are a popular warm-up for reading and vocabulary, and they work well on a shared screen. Some phrases here are idioms that younger children may not know yet.