printable tribond questions

84 Free printable Tribond questions with answers

Tribond questions with answers

These printable Tribonds questions make for fun activities for both ESL learners and native English speakers. They can be used in several different ways depending on the class or situation. On this page, there are both challenging Tribonds for advanced students as well as easy ones for kids and ESL beginners.

What are Tribonds and how do you solve them? They are a kind of word association activity or puzzle that requires you to find what joins or links 3 given words. They are interesting because they get learners or players to think laterally and use their imaginations.

The answers vary from being compound nouns, related by shape, size, color, or another single common element the words share that bonds them together. Note that all the answers for the puzzles here can be found at the bottom of this page

Tribond examples

Let’s look at some examples of Tribonds to help explain further.

1 – Whisker – Fur – Meow. In this case, the word cat would be a good word to bond the 3 question words.

2 – Rose – Mars – Strawberry. The correct answer would be red as all the words have this color.

3- Coast – Touch – Head. Here we can add line to the end of the words to create coastline, touchline, and headline.

4 – Clock – Monkey – Card game. All of these things have hands.

5 – Wall – Chest – Pea. They are all kinds of nuts.

As you can see there are many different ways to solve Tribonds and you need to get your thinking cap on!

Ways you can use the Tribond questions

These questions or puzzles can be used in the classroom, for family fun, workshops, or even at parties. Here are some ways that you might like to try – 

  • Play a TV gameshow-style activity where contestants or teams are given one question. Whoever guesses correctly first wins a point. This can also be done in rounds.
  • Cut out each question individually and ask students to come to the front of the class and read them aloud.
  • See if you can come up with one more word to add to the questions that also links the words.
  • As a writing exercise or fun activity ask learners to create their own Tribond questions and answers to share with the class.
  • Finally, that can be used as an interesting class activity or homework puzzle where students can write the answers on the printed pages.

Easy Tribond questions for kids

Next, we have some much more simple Tribond puzzles or questions. They are a lot more suitable for children and lower lever English learning classes.

Tribond answers - Sheet 1

The answers for sheet 1 are – 

1 – Saw – Sail – Gold – Kinds of fish

2 – Tea – Cake – Butter – The word cup can be added to them

3 – Engine – Olive – Coconut – Kinds of oil

4 – Water – Winter – Bitter – Kinds of melons

5 – Mug – Door – Bicycle – All have handles

6 – The sea – Olives – Chips – They are all salty

7 – Camp – Wall – Man – The word fire can be added to them

8 – Plant – Shell – Head – The word egg can be added to them

9 – Jeans – Berries – Sky – Things that are blue

10 – Bull – Sled – Hot – The word dog can be added to them

11 – Road – Shop – Zodiac – They all have signs

12 – A guitar – A giraffe – A flamingo – They all have long necks

Tribond answers - Sheet 2

The answers for sheet 2 are – 

1 – Corner – Tomb – Sand – Kinds of stones

2 – Wire – Battery – Lightning – Things related to electricity

3 – Sea – Shoe – Race – The word horse can be added to them

4 – Cow – Bar – Door – Kinds of bells

5 – Sandal – Drift – Dead – Kinds of wood

6 – Comb – Saw – Tiger – They all have teeth

7 – Burrow – Rake – Mud – Things related to dirt

8 – Garden – Potato – Greek – Kinds of salads

9 – Plane – Fairy – Bird – They all have wings

10 – Mine – Macaroni – Golf course – They all have holes

11 – Crossbow – Tennis racket – Harp – They all have strings

12 – Candy floss – Peanut butter – Duct tape – They are all sticky

Tribond answers - Sheet 3

The answers for sheet 3 are – 

1 – Barcode – Zebra – Crosswalk – They all have stripes

2 – Vase – Piggy bank – Flower pot – They are ceramic things

3 – Chocolate – Carrot – Cheese – Kinds of cakes

4 – Glow – Inch – Ring – Words that can end with worm

5 – Garbage – Skunk – Shoes – Things that can smell bad

6 – Lumber – Bark – Branch – Related to trees

7 – Dice – Toilet paper – Cigarette – They are all rolled

8 – Flower – Insect – Gnome – Things in a garden

9 – Board – Off – Well – The word spring can be added to them

10 – Bank – Flow – Raft – Words associated with rivers

11 – Window – Garage – Cellphone – They can all be locked

12 – Ring – Coin – Crown – Things made of gold

Tribond answers - Sheet 4

The answers for sheet 4 are – 

1 – Owl – Wolf – Firefly – They are all nocturnal animals

2 – Kite – Windmill – Sailboat – They are powered by wind

3 – Key – Password – Fingerprint – Things used for security access

4 – Packet – Jar – Can – Things that contain food

5 – Face – Hand – Second – Words related to a clock

6 – Michelangelo – Espresso – Pompeii – Things related to Italy

7 – Mark – Melon – Under – Words that water can be added to

8 – Roots – Tunnel – Potatoes – Things that are underground

9 – Dial – Down – Tan- Words sun can be added to

10 – Peck – Soar – Lay – Things that birds do

11 – Nut – Bomb – Turtle – Kinds of shells

12 – Candy – Playground – Toys – Things that children like

Tribond answers - Sheet 5

The answers for sheet 5 are – 

1 – Walking – Broom – Drum – Kinds of sticks

2 – Lighthouse – Stars – Diamonds – They are things that shine

3 – Plugs – Worm – Phone – Words that can start with ear

4 – Fresh – Breath – Smog – Words related to air

5 – Trade – Cross – Whirl – Types of winds

6 – Popcorn – Crackers – Pretzels – Kinds of snacks

7 – Ear – Telephone – Onion – They all have rings

8 – Wheels – Engine – Handlebars – Parts of a motorcycle

9 – Bag – Shorts – Kangaroo – Things that have pockets

10 – Bank – Post – Flash – Kinds of cards

11 – Vine – Rope – Snake -Things that are long and thin

12 – Keeper – Hive – Sting – Words that can add the word bee

Easy Tribond answers - Sheet 1

The answers for easy Tribond sheet 1 are – 

1 – Ice – Refrigerator – Rain – Things that are cold

2 – Clock – Photograph – Shelf – Things on a wall

3 – Mountain – Tower – Tree – They are all tall

4 – Cheetah – Car – Plane – They are all fast

5 – Cloud – Bird – Balloon – Things in the sky

6 – Hat – Towel – Sunglasses – Things at the beach

7 – Ball – Pizza – Moon – They are all round

8 – Water – Mirror – Soap – Things in a bathroom

9 – Chicken – Goat – Cow – They are all farm animals

10 – Pencil – Clock – Notebook – Things in a classroom

11 – Snow – Milk – Paper – They are white

12 – Cheese – Ice cream – Chocolate – They all contain milk

Easy Tribond answers - Sheet 2

The answers for the easy Tribond sheet 2 are – 

1 – Morning – Sunset – Midnight – They are times of day

2 – Train – Boat – Car – Kinds of transport

3 – Lion – Cheetah – Tiger – All big cats

4 – Circle – Star – Triangle – Different shapes

5 – Sink – Frying pan – Spoon – Things in a kitchen

6 – Chicken – Parrot – Owl – Kinds of birds

7 – Tennis – Bowling – Swimming – Kinds of sports

8 – Broccoli – Carrot – Pumpkin – They are vegetables

9 – Fish – Turtle – Shark – They are ocean animals

10 – Tent – Lion – Clown – Things at a circus

11 – Honeycomb – Bolts – Stop signs – They are or have hexagons

12 – Bag – Books – Teacher – Words that can also add the word school

Related activities

If you want to test your mind some more there are some other fun free printables available here at ESL Vault.

Check out the printable brain teasers with answers, the rebus puzzles, and the anagrams puzzles to name a few.

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