diff --git a/docs/cli.rst b/docs/cli.rst
index 8baa194..013d323 100644
--- a/docs/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/cli.rst
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ This is the default command for ``sqlite-utils``, so you can instead use this::
 
     $ sqlite-utils dogs.db "select * from dogs"
 
+You can pass named parameters to the query using ``-p``::
+
+    $ sqlite-utils query dogs.db "select :num * :num2" -p num 5 -p num2 6
+    [{":num * :num2": 30}]
+
 Use ``--nl`` to get back newline-delimited JSON objects::
 
     $ sqlite-utils dogs.db "select * from dogs" --nl
diff --git a/sqlite_utils/cli.py b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
index f387602..155ea54 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/cli.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
@@ -677,11 +677,18 @@ def drop_view(path, view):
 @click.argument("sql")
 @output_options
 @click.option("-r", "--raw", is_flag=True, help="Raw output, first column of first row")
-def query(path, sql, nl, arrays, csv, no_headers, table, fmt, json_cols, raw):
+@click.option(
+    "-p",
+    "--param",
+    multiple=True,
+    type=(str, str),
+    help="Named :parameters for SQL query",
+)
+def query(path, sql, nl, arrays, csv, no_headers, table, fmt, json_cols, raw, param):
     "Execute SQL query and return the results as JSON"
     db = sqlite_utils.Database(path)
     with db.conn:
-        cursor = db.conn.execute(sql)
+        cursor = db.conn.execute(sql, dict(param))
         if cursor.description is None:
             # This was an update/insert
             headers = ["rows_affected"]
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 3584840..4012c97 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -789,6 +789,27 @@ def test_query_json_binary(db_path):
     ]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "sql,params,expected",
+    [
+        ("select 1 + 1 as out", {"p": "2"}, 2),
+        ("select 1 + :p as out", {"p": "2"}, 3),
+        (
+            "select :hello as out",
+            {"hello": """This"has'many'quote"s"""},
+            """This"has'many'quote"s""",
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_query_params(db_path, sql, params, expected):
+    extra_args = []
+    for key, value in params.items():
+        extra_args.extend(["-p", key, value])
+    result = CliRunner().invoke(cli.cli, [db_path, sql] + extra_args)
+    assert result.exit_code == 0, str(result)
+    assert json.loads(result.output.strip()) == [{"out": expected}]
+
+
 def test_query_json_with_json_cols(db_path):
     db = Database(db_path)
     with db.conn: