Math Word Problems: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division
Neha Tanna23 Apr, 2025
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Math Word Problems: Math word problems are short stories that use numbers and math to solve real-life situations. They help us learn how to add, subtract, multiply, or divide in a fun and interesting way. Instead of just solving sums, we read a story, understand what it is asking, and then use math to find the answer. Word problems make our brains think harder and help us become better at solving everyday problems. With practice, solving them can become easy and enjoyable.
What are Math Word Problems?
Math word problems for kids are problems presented in a narrative format that require mathematical thinking to solve. They help children develop problem-solving skills by connecting real-life situations with math concepts. These problems typically involve basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, but can also include more advanced topics like fractions, percentages, and geometry. By reading and analyzing the problem, kids learn how to identify key information, formulate equations, and work through step-by-step solutions. Math word problems foster critical thinking, improve comprehension, and enhance reasoning skills, making math both engaging and practical for young learners.Basic Maths Questions for Kids
Examples of Math Word Problems
Below we have provided Math Word Problems on various operations for the ease of the students -Addition Word Problems
1. Adding to 10: Ariel was playing basketball. 1 of her shots went in the hoop. 2 of her shots did not go in the hoop. How many shots were there in total?
2. Adding to 20: Adrianna has 10 pieces of gum to share with her friends. There wasn’t enough gum for all her friends, so she went to the store to get 3 more pieces of gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?
3. Adding to 100: Adrianna has 10 pieces of gum to share with her friends. There wasn’t enough gum for all her friends, so she went to the store and got 70 pieces of strawberry gum and 10 pieces of bubble gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?
4. Adding Slightly over 100: The restaurant has 175 normal chairs and 20 chairs for babies. How many chairs does the restaurant have in total?
5. Adding to 1,000: How many cookies did you sell if you sold 320 chocolate cookies and 270 vanilla cookies?
6. Adding to and over 10,000: The hobby store normally sells 10,576 trading cards per month. In June, the hobby store sold 15,498 more trading cards than normal. In total, how many trading cards did the hobby store sell in June?
7. Adding 3 Numbers: Billy had 2 books at home. He went to the library to take out 2 more books. He then bought 1 book. How many books does Billy have now?
Subtraction Word Problems
1. Subtracting to 10: There were 3 pizzas in total at the pizza shop. A customer bought 1 pizza. How many pizzas are left?
2. Subtracting to 20: Your friend said she had 11 stickers. When you helped her clean her desk, she only had a total of 10 stickers. How many stickers are missing?
3. Subtracting to 100: Adrianna has 100 pieces of gum to share with her friends. When she went to the park, she shared 10 pieces of strawberry gum. When she left the park, Adrianna shared another 10 pieces of bubble gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?
4. Subtracting Slightly over 100: Your team scored a total of 123 points. 67 points were scored in the first half. How many were scored in the second half?
5. Subtracting to 1,000: Nathan has a big ant farm. He decided to sell some of his ants. He started with 965 ants. He sold 213. How many ants does he have now?
Importance of Maths in Daily Life
Multiplication Word Problems
1. Multiplying 1-Digit Integers: Adrianna needs to cut a pan of brownies into pieces. She cuts 6 even columns and 3 even rows into the pan. How many brownies does she have?
2. Multiplying 2-Digit Integers: A movie theatre has 25 rows of seats with 20 seats in each row. How many seats are there in total?
3. Multiplying Integers Ending with 0: A clothing company has 4 different kinds of sweatshirts. Each year, the company makes 60,000 of each kind of sweatshirt. How many sweatshirts does the company make each year?
4. Multiplying 3 Integers: A bricklayer stacks bricks in 2 rows, with 10 bricks in each row. On top of each row, there is a stack of 6 bricks. How many bricks are there in total?
Division Word Problems
1. Dividing 1-Digit Integers: If you have 4 pieces of candy split evenly into 2 bags, how many pieces of candy are in each bag?
2. Dividing 2-Digit Integers: If you have 80 tickets for the fair and each ride costs 5 tickets, how many rides can you go on?
3. Interpreting Remainders: An Italian restaurant receives a shipment of 86 veal cutlets. If it takes 3 cutlets to make a dish, how many cutlets will the restaurant have left over after making as many dishes as possible?
Mixed Operations Word Problems
1. Mixing Addition and Subtraction: There are 235 books in a library. On Monday, 123 books are taken out. On Tuesday, 56 books are brought back. How many books are there now?
2. Mixing Multiplication and Division: There is a group of 10 people who are ordering pizza. If each person gets 2 slices and each pizza has 4 slices, how many pizzas should they order?
3. Mixing Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction: Lana has 2 bags with 2 marbles in each bag. Markus has 2 bags with 3 marbles in each bag. How many more marbles does Markus have?
4. Mixing Division, Addition and Subtraction: Lana has 3 bags with the same number of marbles in them, totaling 12 marbles. Markus has 3 bags with the same number of marbles in them, totaling 18 marbles. How many more marbles does Markus have in each bag?
Ordering and Number Sense Word Problems
1. Counting down to the Preview Multiplication: Your classroom has two chalkboards. How many pieces of chalk are needed overall if each whiteboard requires two pieces?
2. Counting to Preview Division: Your classroom has three chalkboards. There are two bits of chalk on each chalkboard. This indicates that there are six bits of chalk altogether. How many chalkboards will there be overall if you remove one piece from each one?
3. Composing Numbers: What number is 6 tens and 10 ones?
4. Guessing Numbers: I have a 7 in the tens place. I have an even number in the ones place. I am lower than 74. What number am I?
Fractions Word Problems
1. Finding Fractions of a Group: Julia went to 10 houses on her street for Halloween. 5 of the houses gave her a chocolate bar. What fraction of houses on Julia’s Street gave her a chocolate bar?
2. Finding Unit Fractions: Heather is painting a portrait of her best friend, Lisa. To make it easier, she divides the portrait into 6 equal parts. What fraction represents each part of the portrait?
3. Adding Fractions with Like Denominators: Noah walks ⅓ of a kilometre to school each day. He also walks ⅓ of a kilometre to get home after school. How many kilometres does he walk in total?
3. Dividing Fractions: A clothing manufacturer uses ⅕ of a bottle of colour dye to make one pair of pants. The manufacturer used ⅘ of a bottle yesterday. How many pairs of pants did the manufacturer make?
4. Multiplying Fractions with Whole Numbers: Mark drank ⅚ of a carton of milk this week. Frank drank 7 times more milk than Mark. How many cartons of milk did Frank drink? Write your answer as a fraction, or as a whole or mixed number.
Decimals Word Problems
1. Adding Decimals: You have 2.6 grams of yogurt in your bowl and you add another spoonful of 1.3 grams. How much yogurt do you have in total?
2. Subtracting Decimals: Gemma had 25.75 grams of frosting to make a cake. She decided to use only 15.5 grams of the frosting. How much frosting does Gemma have left?
3. Using Whole Numbers to Multiply Decimals: Ram walks 0.9 km every day to and from school. How many km will he have walked after four days?
4. Dividing Decimals by Whole Numbers: Mrs. Krishna purchased 2.5 kilogrammes of spaghetti in order to construct the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In all, her students managed to construct ten leaning structures. One leaning tower requires how many kilogrammes of spaghetti?
Time Word Problems
1. Converting Hours into Minutes: Jeremy helped his mom for 1 hour. For how many minutes was he helping her?
2. Adding Time: If you wake up at 7:00 a.m. and it takes you 1 hour and 30 minutes to get ready and walk to school, at what time will you get to school?
3. Subtracting Time: If a train departs at 2:00 p.m. and arrives at 4:00 p.m., how long were passengers on the train for?
4. Finding Start and End Times: Rebecca left her dad’s store to go home at twenty to seven in the evening. Forty minutes later, she was home. What time was it when she arrived home?
Money Word Problems
1. Adding Money: Thomas and Matthew are saving up money to buy a video game together. Thomas has saved Rs 30. Matthew has saved Rs 35. How much money have they saved up together in total?
2. Subtracting Money: Thomas has Rs 80 saved up. He uses his money to buy a video game. The video game costs Rs 67. How much money does he have left?
3. Multiplying Money: Tim gets Rs 5 for delivering the paper. How much money will he have after delivering the paper 3 times?
4. Money Division: Robert purchased three hockey sticks for Rs184.59. How much did one hockey stick cost if they were all the same price?
5. Adding Money with Decimals: You paid Rs 1.25 for gum and Rs 0.50 for a sucker at the store. What was your total?
Geometry Word Problems
1. Introducing Perimeter: The theatre has 4 chairs in a row. There are 5 rows. Using rows as your unit of measurement, what is the perimeter?
2. Introducing Area: The theatre has 4 chairs in a row. There are 5 rows. How many chairs are there in total?
3. Introducing Volume: Aaron wants to know how much candy his container can hold. The container is 20 centimetres tall, 10 centimetres long and 10 centimetres wide. What is the container’s volume?
4. Understanding 2D Shapes: Kevin draws a shape with 4 equal sides. What shape did he draw?
5. Finding the Perimeter of 2D Shapes: Mitchell wrote his homework questions on a piece of square paper. Each side of the paper is 8 centimetres. What is the perimeter?
Benefits of Solving Math Word Problems for Kids
1. Improves Thinking and Reasoning Skills
When kids solve word problems, they don’t just do simple calculations. They must think clearly about the story and figure out what the problem is asking. This helps improve their logical thinking and makes them better at reasoning and decision-making.
2. Connects Math to Real Life
Word problems are often based on real situations like shopping, traveling, or sharing. This helps children see how math is used in daily life, making the subject more meaningful and useful. They understand that math is not just about numbers but about solving real problems.
3. Boosts Reading and Comprehension Skills
To solve a word problem, kids must read the question carefully and understand the meaning. This improves their reading ability, attention to detail, and comprehension skills. It also helps them learn new words and phrases used in math.
4. Builds Problem-Solving Confidence
When kids solve word problems correctly, they feel proud and confident. This boosts their self-esteem and encourages them to try more challenging questions. Over time, they become more comfortable with solving complex problems.
5. Teaches Step-by-Step Thinking
Word problems require a step-by-step approach: first understanding the story, then finding the important numbers, choosing the right operation, and finally solving it. This process helps kids become organized thinkers who follow clear steps to find answers.
6. Encourages Creativity and Imagination
Some word problems use fun stories or situations. This encourages kids to use their imagination while also applying math skills. It makes learning more interesting and helps them enjoy the subject more.
7. Prepares for Exams and Future Learning
Many school exams and competitive tests have word problems. Practicing them from a young age helps kids get ready for future challenges. It also makes them better at subjects like science, which also needs problem-solving skills.
Math Word Problems FAQs
What is the purpose of word problems in math?
Why do students struggle with math word problems?
What type of word problems are there in math?
What is the learning objective of word problems?
Why is reading comprehension important in math?
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