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Two-step equations worksheets

A two-step equation needs the operations undone in the opposite order to the one they were done in. These free printable worksheets keep every solution a whole number so the method, not the arithmetic, is what is being practiced.

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Ready to printTwo-step equations
Two-step equations worksheet — Whole-number solutions, free printable with answer key

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this sheet

3x + 5 = 20 was built by multiplying x by three and then adding five. Undoing it runs backwards: subtract the five first, then divide by three. Children who divide first get 3x + 5 ÷ 3 and an answer that cannot be checked, and the fix is not more practice but the order — last thing done, first thing undone.

Why this sheet works

Substituting the answer back is the habit worth insisting on, and it costs about five seconds. Put x = 5 into 3x + 5 and see whether 20 comes out. A child who checks their own work stops needing the answer key to find out whether they were right, which is a bigger change than any individual topic.

How this one works

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

2x − 26 = 2

2x − 26=2
2x − 26=2
2x=28
2x=28
x=14
2x − 26=2
2x=28
x=14
  1. Two things were done to x: multiplied by 2, then 26 taken away. Undo them in the REVERSE order — whatever happened last comes off first.
  2. The 26 went on last, so it comes off first — and off BOTH sides, or the two halves stop being equal. 2 + 26 = 28.
  3. That leaves 2x, which means 2 lots of x. Divide both sides by 2: 28 ÷ 2 = 14.
  4. Check by putting it back: 2(14) − 26 = 2. It holds, so x = 14.

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