Grade 4 Subtraction Missing Number
Grade 4 subtraction missing number sheet: 24 problems on four-digit subtraction with the standard algorithm.
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Three different problem sets — same skill, same layout, fresh numbers.
Preview — Set A
Find the number that belongs in each blank.
- 1.1956 - 1072 = ___
- 2.6127 - ___ = 1295
- 3.5656 - 1816 = ___
- 4.6911 - ___ = 5672
- 5.2864 - ___ = 1379
- 6.9650 - 7634 = ___
- 7.4452 - ___ = 1075
- 8.___ - 1178 = 717
- 9.5434 - ___ = 3745
- 10.___ - 1920 = 6599
- 11.___ - 1574 = 766
- 12.6508 - ___ = 950
- 13.8413 - ___ = 1109
- 14.4684 - ___ = 1955
- 15.3217 - 1633 = ___
- 16.5301 - 1168 = ___
- 17.7114 - 2562 = ___
- 18.___ - 3793 = 45
- 19.8925 - ___ = 5166
- 20.7508 - ___ = 3987
- 21.___ - 2731 = 3443
- 22.6797 - ___ = 3408
- 23.5171 - ___ = 617
- 24.___ - 1178 = 3681
What this worksheet covers
This is a 24-problem missing number for grade 4 subtraction, printed in black and white with the key on page two. What makes this set particular: the blank moves between positions from problem to problem, so no single procedure clears the page and the numbers run as high as 9,650. Problems 9 and 17, for instance, are "5434 - ___ = 3745" and "7114 - 2562 = ___". Common Core 4.NBT.4 is the slot this page fills.
Skills practised
Grade 4 subtraction means the standard algorithm on four- and five-digit numbers. Specifically, the problems practise four-digit subtraction with the standard algorithm. Working the page asks a student to reason backwards from a result to a missing part.
About the missing number format
Each of the 24 problems has a blank, and the blank is not always at the end: problem 9, "5434 - ___ = 3745" puts it where the student has to reason backwards. Blanks in the minuend or subtrahend force the student to think of subtraction as a missing part, which is the idea behind every later inverse operation.
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 13 is "8413 - ___ = 1109", Set B's is "___ - 4371 = 1664".
How to use this worksheet
By grade 4 a student should take all 24 subtraction problems in one sitting. If the page takes more than about fifteen minutes, the underlying facts are probably not automatic yet, and that is worth fixing before more subtraction practice piles on. If more than a third of the 24 problems come back wrong, stop and step back a grade in subtraction rather than assigning Set B.
One mistake to watch for
A missing-number problem like ___ − 6 = 13 is answered 7. Watch problem 17 of this missing number — "7114 - 2562 = ___" — for this one.
The student subtracts the two visible numbers regardless of where the blank sits.
Ask what the whole is and what the part is before computing; drawing a part-part-whole bar makes the position of the unknown visible.
Other grade 4 subtraction formats
The same skill in the other formats available at this grade.
- Drill — Grade 4 Subtraction Drill, 30 problems
- Timed Drill — Grade 4 Subtraction Timed Drill, 72 problems
- Mixed Review — Grade 4 Subtraction Mixed Review, 30 problems
- Word Problems — Grade 4 Subtraction Word Problems, 10 problems
- Vertical Format — Grade 4 Multi-Digit Subtraction (Standard Algorithm), 16 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 3 Subtraction Missing Number — grade 3, 24 problems
Missing Number sheets in other grade 4 topics
Print as many copies of this grade 4 subtraction missing number as you need; Sets A, B and C and their keys are six separate PDFs, all free.