Area of figuresParallelograms
Name: Date:
Find the area. Lengths are in cm; the dashed line is the height.
1 cm²
2 cm²
3 cm²
4 cm²
5 cm²
6 cm²
7 cm²
8 cm²
Area of a parallelogram worksheets
A parallelogram uses exactly the arithmetic its rectangle would: base times height. The catch is that the height is the perpendicular distance, not the sloping side. These free printable worksheets drill that one figure.
Kid stuck on one? You don’t just get the sheet.
Area of a parallelogram
The answer key prints on a separate page.
What's on this sheet
This is the parallelogram pulled out of the mixed area page on its own. Facing the same shape every time is what lets a child see why the formula works — slide the slanted triangle from one end to the other and the parallelogram becomes a rectangle of the same base and height, so base times height is all it ever needed.
Why this sheet works
The height is dashed with a right-angle mark and the slant side is left unlabeled, exactly so a child cannot use it by mistake. Measuring the slant edge is the single error this figure is built to prevent, because that number is always a little too big.
How this one works
One question from this sheet, worked through a step at a time.
Area of a 11 by 8 parallelogram
- A parallelogram. Two of its numbers matter and they are not the two longest lines — find them before working anything out.
- The base is the side it stands on: 11 cm.
- The height is the DASHED line — straight up from the base, at a right angle to it: 8 cm. It is not the sloping side, even though the sloping side is longer and is written right next to it.
- Slide the triangle off one end round to the other and it is a rectangle — same base, same height. So there is no halving here: 11 × 8 = 88 square cm.