Grade 3 Subtraction Drill
Grade 3 subtraction drill sheet: 30 problems on three-digit subtraction with regrouping.
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Three different problem sets — same skill, same layout, fresh numbers.
Preview — Set A
Solve each problem. Show your work in the space provided.
- 1.300 - 283 =
- 2.947 - 870 =
- 3.331 - 223 =
- 4.405 - 239 =
- 5.416 - 157 =
- 6.621 - 536 =
- 7.911 - 588 =
- 8.613 - 137 =
- 9.501 - 469 =
- 10.745 - 295 =
- 11.914 - 545 =
- 12.690 - 562 =
- 13.983 - 494 =
- 14.514 - 491 =
- 15.511 - 116 =
- 16.915 - 629 =
- 17.585 - 517 =
- 18.621 - 422 =
- 19.746 - 167 =
- 20.733 - 209 =
- 21.585 - 427 =
- 22.942 - 259 =
- 23.929 - 369 =
- 24.442 - 252 =
- 25.419 - 154 =
- 26.826 - 732 =
- 27.323 - 317 =
- 28.243 - 197 =
- 29.703 - 191 =
- 30.829 - 788 =
What this worksheet covers
This is a 30-problem drill for grade 3 subtraction, printed in black and white with the key on page two. What makes this set particular: all 30 column problems need regrouping and the numbers run as high as 983. Problems 11 and 21, for instance, are "914 - 545" and "585 - 427". It is written against Common Core 3.NBT.2 — Number & Operations in Base Ten, grade 3.
Skills practised
At grade 3, subtraction is about three-digit subtraction with regrouping, including across zeros, and this sheet takes one slice of that. What a student is asked to do here is three-digit subtraction with regrouping. To finish it, a student has to carry or borrow across place-value columns without losing a digit.
About the drill format
A drill is straight practice: 30 problems of the same kind, laid out across the page with working space under each — problem 11, "914 - 545" is typical of the whole page. A page of same-shaped differences is where a borrowing method either settles or shows its cracks.
Set A, Set B and Set C
All three sets are produced by the site's deterministic generator from a fixed seed, so they are the same every time the site is built and the answer keys are exact. Where Set A's problem 16 is "915 - 629", Set B's is "927 - 186".
How to use this worksheet
Give this drill uninterrupted. At grade 3, subtraction is where procedure and recall have to run at the same time, and 30 problems done in fragments hide which of the two is the problem. Date the drill before filing it. Set C from six weeks later is the cheapest evidence you have that the subtraction stuck.
One mistake to watch for
The smaller digit is always taken from the larger: 52 − 38 becomes 26. Watch problem 21 of this drill — "585 - 427" — for this one.
The student is applying "big minus small" column by column instead of treating the top number as a whole.
Model 52 with base-ten blocks and ask whether 8 ones can be taken from 2 ones; the trade of a ten for ten ones has to be seen before it can be written.
Other grade 3 subtraction formats
The same skill in the other formats available at this grade.
- Timed Drill — Grade 3 Subtraction Timed Drill, 72 problems
- Missing Number — Grade 3 Subtraction Missing Number, 24 problems
- Mixed Review — Grade 3 Subtraction Mixed Review, 30 problems
- Word Problems — Grade 3 Subtraction Word Problems, 10 problems
- Vertical Format — Grade 3 Three-Digit Subtraction with Regrouping, 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 Practice — grade 2, 20 problems
- Grade 4 Subtraction Drill — grade 4, 30 problems
Drill sheets in other grade 3 topics
Print as many copies of this grade 3 subtraction drill as you need; Sets A, B and C and their keys are six separate PDFs, all free.