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Length word problems worksheets

A ribbon is 34 inches long and someone cuts 12 inches off it. These free printable worksheets ask that question three ways — two pieces joined, a piece cut off, and how much longer one thing is than another — with the arithmetic kept inside a hundred.

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Length word problems
Length word problems worksheet — Lengths within 100, one unit, free printable with answer key

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this sheet

Both lengths in a question are always in the SAME unit, because that is what the standard asks for. Mixing centimeters and inches in one problem is a conversion question, which is a different skill and a later year; here the only work is the adding or the subtracting.

Why this sheet works

The numbers avoid multiples of ten on purpose. Thirty and twenty is a fact most children already have; thirty-four and twenty-seven is the one worth practicing, because that is where the regrouping lives.

How this one works

What is the difference between the two lengths?

Two ropes lie side by side. The longer one measures 45 centimeters and the shorter one measures 19 centimeters.
Two ropes lie side by side. The longer one measures 45 centimeters and the shorter one measures 19 centimeters.
numbers:4519
45 − 19
asked:What is the difference between the two lengths?
45 − 19 =26
26 centimeters
  1. Read the whole story first, before picking out numbers.
  2. The numbers are 45 and 19. What to do with them comes from the story.
  3. Two lengths are being compared, and the question asks how much longer — the gap between them. So this one is a subtraction: 45 − 19.
  4. 45 − 19 = 26 centimeters — that answers "What is the difference between the two lengths?".

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