Math Word Problems
These word problems are great for any students looking to improve their word problems skills.
These questions cover Multiplication, Division, Fractions, and Decimals and include answers and explanations for students to review. The links below include worksheets in PDF for students to do download and practice on their own.
The questions are designed as story sums to give students real word examples of applying the operations.
Mixed Fraction, Multiplication and Decimal Word Problems for practice
A watermelon is cut into 15 slices and and two-thirds of those slices are eaten.
How many slices are left?
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Answer
5
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Explanation
Two-thirds can be written as 2/3 in fraction form.
2/3 x 15 = 10
Therefore 10 slices are eaten
15 - 10 = 5 slices remain.
Cath saves $5 a week. Beth saves double that amount a week. How much do they save combined over the year?
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Answer
$780
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Explanation
The easiest thing to do is add both savings together and then multiply by the weeks in a year.
$5 x ($5 x 2) = $15.
Then multiply by 52 weeks in a year.
15 x 52 = 780
Terry buys groceries which cost $53.43 in total. If he pays with $55 in cash, what was his change?
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Answer
$1.57
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Explanation
Add decimal points to the cash amount paid then take the total paid in cash and subtract the amount paid in cash:
55.00 - 53.43 = 1.57
There are thirty-three seagull hatchlings on a beach. Eleven fly into the sky and the rest remain on the beach. What fraction are still on the beach?
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Answer
2/3
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Explanation
11 of 33 is 11/33 as a fraction which is 1/3 if you simplify.
1 - 1/3 = 2/3 remain.
You buy eleven t-shirts which each cost the same and the bill comes to $121. How much would seven t-shirts cost?
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Answer
$6
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Explanation
You first need to divide the total to get a cost per item.
$121 / 11 = $11 per t-shirt
Then calculate the new total:
$11 x 7 = $77
To make an pineapple juice, you need to add 0.21 liters of pineapple juice concentrate to 0.63 liters of water. How many liters are in the new mix?
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Answer
0.84 liters
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Explanation
Add the two decimals together:
0.63
+0.21
=0.84
A dog and a kitten stand next to each other. The dog is three and a half times taller than the kitten. If the kitten is 20cm tall, how tall is the dog?
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Answer
70 cm
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Explanation
You can break this into two multiplication calculations:
3 x 20 = 60 cm
And
1 / 2 x 20 = 10 cm
Add these together 60 + 10 = 70
I managed to read a 360 page book in 120 minutes. If I keep up the same rate of reading, how many pages can I read in 160 minutes?
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Answer
480 pages
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Explanation
First caculate the rate of reading per page by dividing the total by the rate per minute:
360 / 120 = 3 pages per minute
If the same rate is kept up then we multiply 160 minutes by 3 pages per minute:
160 x 3 = 480 pages
What is 3/25 as a decimal?
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Answer
0.12
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Explanation
To convert a fraction to a decimal, you need to convert the denominator into 100.
Since the denominator is 25 we need to multiply by 4 to get to 100.
Whatever you do to the denominator you also need to do to the numerator.
3 x 4 = 12
The new fraction is now: 12 / 100 = 0.12