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.
Kid stuck on one? You don’t just get the sheet.
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 this sheet, worked through a step at a time.
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same size:21ths
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- Thirds and sevenths are different sizes of piece. Two different sizes cannot be counted as one total — that is the whole difficulty here.
- Both can be cut into 21ths: 3 goes into 21, and so does 7. So 21 is the size to use.
- 2/3 is the same amount as 14/21, and 2/7 is the same amount as 6/21. Nothing has got bigger — the pieces just got smaller and there are more of them.
- Now they are the same size, so count them: 14 − 6 = 8, giving 8/21.