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Adding unlike fractions worksheets

Fractions with unlike bottoms cannot be added yet — halves and thirds are not the same size, so there is nothing to count. These free printable worksheets add two fractions with unlike denominators, like one half plus one third, where the first job is making the pieces match.

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Adding unlike fractions
Adding unlike fractions worksheet — Unlike denominators, to 8, free printable with answer key

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this sheet

The fix is a common denominator: rewrite both fractions so their bottoms agree, then add the way you already know. One half and one third both become sixths — three sixths and two sixths — which add to five sixths. The least common multiple of the two denominators gives the smallest common bottom to work in, though any common multiple lands on the same amount in the end.

Why this sheet works

Each pair is built so a common denominator is genuinely reachable by hand, and every fraction prints stacked so a child reads a real numerator over a real denominator rather than a typed slash. Sums are reduced to lowest terms and kept as proper fractions, so no answer crosses a whole and no mixed numbers appear, keeping the focus on the rewriting.

How this one works

One question from this sheet, worked through a step at a time.

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  1. Sevenths and halves are different sizes of piece. Two different sizes cannot be counted as one total — that is the whole difficulty here.
  2. Both can be cut into 14ths: 7 goes into 14, and so does 2. So 14 is the size to use.
  3. 3/7 is the same amount as 6/14, and 1/2 is the same amount as 7/14. Nothing has got bigger — the pieces just got smaller and there are more of them.
  4. Now they are the same size, so count them: 6 + 7 = 13, giving 13/14.

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