FractionsTo 8
Name: Date:
123−27=
245−17=
312−27=
436−17=
535−37=
645−38=
767−48=
878−16=
Subtracting fractions worksheets
Taking one fraction from another hits the same wall as adding them: three quarters and one sixth are different-sized pieces, so they must be remade first. These free printable worksheets subtract two fractions with unlike denominators, like three quarters minus one sixth.
If they get stuck
Subtracting fractions
The answer key prints on a separate page.
What's on this sheet
Find a common denominator, rewrite both fractions over it, then subtract the numerators and keep that denominator. Three quarters and one sixth both become twelfths — nine twelfths minus two twelfths — leaving seven twelfths. It is the adding routine with one sign changed, which is the useful thing to notice: the whole setup is identical and only the final step differs.
Why this sheet works
Every question is arranged so the larger fraction comes first, which keeps each answer non-negative — a child at this stage never meets a result below zero. Differences are reduced to lowest terms and stay proper fractions with no mixed numbers, and each fraction prints as a real stacked numerator over denominator, so the two bottoms are easy to line up.
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.
Subtracting fractions, step by step