Grade 1 Addition and Subtraction Word Problems
Twelve grade 1 story problems where the work is deciding whether to add or subtract. Free printable PDF with a complete answer key, no sign-up.
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Three different problem sets — same skill, same layout, fresh numbers.
Preview — Set A
Read each problem. Decide whether to add or subtract, then write your answer.
- 1.Sam has 7 red blocks and 5 blue blocks. How many blocks does he have in all?
- 2.There are 14 birds in a tree. 6 birds fly away. How many birds are left?
- 3.Ana has 9 stickers. Her aunt gives her 4 more. How many stickers does she have now?
- 4.A plate has 12 grapes. Ben eats 5 of them. How many grapes are left?
- 5.8 ducks are in the pond. 7 more ducks join them. How many ducks are there now?
- 6.Mia had 15 crayons. She lost 3 of them. How many crayons does she have left?
- 7.There are 6 cats and 9 dogs at the park. How many animals are there in all?
- 8.A basket holds 11 apples. 4 apples are eaten. How many apples are left?
- 9.Leo has 5 toy cars. His friend gives him 8 more. How many toy cars does Leo have?
- 10.There are 18 pencils in a cup. 9 are given away. How many pencils are left?
- 11.4 boys and 7 girls are on the team. How many children are on the team?
- 12.A box has 16 markers. 8 markers are used up. How many markers are left?
What this worksheet covers
This is a 12-problem word problems for grade 1 subtraction, printed in black and white with the key on page two. Every problem is set in a short situation, so the first decision is which operation it calls for and answers carry units, and a number without its unit is only half an answer. Problems 5 and 9, for instance, are "8 ducks are in the pond. 7 more ducks join them. How many…" and "Leo has 5 toy cars. His friend gives him 8 more. How many…". Common Core 1.OA.1 is the slot this page fills.
Skills practised
At grade 1, subtraction is about facts within 20, unknown-addend equations, and subtracting multiples of ten, and this sheet takes one slice of that. What a student is asked to do here is grade 1 Addition and Subtraction Word Problems. Concretely, the sheet tests whether a student can read a situation and choose an operation before computing.
About the word problems format
The 12 story problems each get a full line and an answer rule; problem 5, "8 ducks are in the pond. 7 more ducks join them. How many…" is one, and the answer key writes the unit with every answer. Take-away, comparison and missing-part situations all call for subtraction, and telling them apart is the reading work this format practises.
Set A, Set B and Set C
Set A is the sheet as it was first published on MathSheetLab, and Sets B and C were derived from it problem by problem: each number became a slot redrawn with the same shape, and every answer was recomputed exactly. Where Set A's problem 7 is "There are 6 cats and 9 dogs at the park. How many animals…", Set B's is "Ava planted 3 seeds in the first row and 8 seeds in the…".
12 story problem(s) drawn from the /custom word-problem bank (grade 0 ranges, ops add/sub) — parameters inferred from 1.OA.1
How to use this worksheet
Sit alongside for this subtraction word problems. At grade 1 the useful information is not the score but which of the twelve problems drew a pause. Keep the key face down until all twelve problems are finished, then go through the misses together rather than only totalling the score.
One mistake to watch for
Subtraction facts are recomputed by counting back one at a time. On this grade 1 word problems, problem 9 ("Leo has 5 toy cars. His friend gives him 8 more. How many…") is the kind of item where it shows.
The relationship to addition has not been made explicit, so 13 − 8 is not being read as "8 plus what is 13".
Practise fact families as a unit, four equations at a time, and give unknown-addend problems alongside the subtraction ones.
Other grade 1 subtraction formats
The same skill in the other formats available at this grade.
- Drill — Subtracting Multiples of 10 — Grade 1 Practice, 22 problems
- Timed Drill — Grade 1 Subtraction Timed Drill, 60 problems
- Missing Number — Grade 1 Subtraction Missing Number, 24 problems
- Mixed Review — Grade 1 Subtraction Mixed Review, 24 problems
- Vertical Format — Grade 1 Subtraction Vertical Format, 20 problems
A step either side
The same format one grade down and one grade up — the easier sheet is often the faster fix when this one is not landing.
- Grade 2 Subtraction Word Problems — grade 2, 8 problems
Word Problems sheets in other grade 1 topics
Print as many copies of this grade 1 subtraction word problems as you need; Sets A, B and C and their keys are six separate PDFs, all free.