Free · Print-ready · Easiest first
Word problem worksheets
Not sure what comes next? Start with the first sheet that feels comfortable.
- Answer keys included
- Reopen any sheet later
- Letter & A4 ready
In teaching order
Word problems worksheets, easiest first
Each sheet assumes the one above it is comfortable. Start where your child is, not at the top.- 7 friends + 4 more = __ Addition word problems Child does: Read a join-or-combine story and write the total. Try this worksheet
- 18 − 5 = __ left Subtraction word problems Child does: Read a take-away or compare story and find the answer. Try this worksheet
- 3 shelves × 8 = __ Multiplication word problems Child does: Read an equal-groups story and write the product. Try this worksheet
- 24 shared by 3 = __ Division word problems Child does: Read a sharing or grouping story and write the answer. Try this worksheet
- + − × ÷ in a story Mixed word problems Child does: Read each story and choose the operation to solve it. Try this worksheet
- 6 × 7, then + 11 = __ Two-step word problems Child does: Solve a story that needs two operations in order. Try this worksheet
- 3/8 − 2/8 = __ Fraction word problems Child does: Solve a fraction story and write the answer in lowest terms. Try this worksheet
A simple way through word problems
The difficulty of a good word problem should live in the reasoning, not the calculation. That is the principle behind every sheet here: numbers stay small and are written as numerals a child can lift straight off the page, so what makes a problem harder is a trickier situation — an unknown in an unusual place, a comparison, a second step — rather than bigger numbers. A child stuck on a word problem is almost never stuck on the adding; they are stuck on what the story is asking.
Why this order works
The skills build in a deliberate order. Addition and subtraction stories come first, then multiplication and division as equal groups shared or grouped, then mixed pages where the child has to choose the operation instead of being told it. Two-step problems are the real jump — the answer to the first calculation is not the answer to the question — and fraction word problems apply all of this to recipes, ribbon, and shared pizza once a child can compute with fractions.