FractionsTo 12
Name: Date:
1711−311=
2411+411=
3211+311=
4410−310=
5511−411=
619+89=
71011+111=
889−19=
Adding and subtracting like fractions worksheets
When two fractions share a bottom number, adding and taking away are the same easy move: the pieces are already the same size. These free printable worksheets mix both operations on like denominators, so a child meets the plus and the minus together.
Kid stuck on one? You don’t just get the sheet.
Adding and subtracting like fractions
The answer key prints on a separate page.
What's on this sheet
With matching denominators you work the numerators and keep the denominator: two sixths plus three sixths is five sixths, and five sixths minus two sixths is three sixths, because the size of a piece does not change when pieces are joined or removed. Mixing the two operations on one page is what stops a child running on autopilot — each question has to be read, not assumed.
Why this sheet works
The commonest early slip is touching the bottom number, and both directions expose it. Adding the denominators ("two sixths plus three sixths is five twelfths") changes the piece size and breaks the sum, and the same mistake ruins a subtraction. Keeping the shared denominator through the whole calculation is the one rule these sheets drill.
How this one works
One question from this sheet, worked through a step at a time.
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- Both are elevenths, so the pieces are already the same size. That is what lets them be counted together.
- 7 of them take away 3 of them is 4 of them: 4/11. The bottom does not change — the pieces did not change size.