FractionsTo 8
Name: Date:
137+12=
238+27=
316+25=
458+26=
535+18=
628+16=
715+24=
823+57=
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.
If they get stuck
Adding unlike fractions
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 a sheet like this one, worked a step at a time — with a sentence saying what just happened and why.
Adding unlike fractions, step by step