Grade 1 Subtraction Word Problems Worksheets
Start with eight focused practice problems, then use the answer key below to check the worksheet.
Practice Worksheet
Grade 1 Subtraction Word Problems Practice
Solve each problem. Show your work.
- 1.A store had 11 cookies in stock. They sold 3 during the day. How many cookies are left?
(word problem)
- 2.There were 6 birds in a tree. 6 of them flew away. How many birds are left in the tree?
(word problem)
- 3.Ava baked 16 cookies and shared 15 of them with friends. How many cookies does Ava have left?
(word problem)
- 4.A store had 13 books in stock. They sold 10 during the day. How many books are left?
(word problem)
- 5.Mason had 7 apples. They gave away 2. How many apples does Mason have left?
(word problem)
- 6.There were 6 birds in a tree. 5 of them flew away. How many birds are left in the tree?
(word problem)
- 7.There were 5 birds in a tree. 2 of them flew away. How many birds are left in the tree?
(word problem)
- 8.Sophia baked 7 cookies and shared 5 of them with friends. How many cookies does Sophia have left?
(word problem)
Show answer key
- Question 1: 8
- Question 2: 0
- Question 3: 1
- Question 4: 3
- Question 5: 5
- Question 6: 1
- Question 7: 3
- Question 8: 2
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About These Worksheets
Grade 1 students solve simple take-away and "how many more" stories within 20, often using objects or number lines.
Subtraction word problems worksheets take computation skills and apply them to realistic scenarios: finding how many are left, how much more one quantity is than another, or how far apart two values are. Unlike straightforward column subtraction, word problems require students to first decide that subtraction is the correct operation — a step that trips up many students who default to whichever operation they practised most recently.
These worksheets deliberately include both "take away" problems (starting with a quantity and removing some) and "comparison" problems (finding the difference between two quantities), since research consistently shows that comparison subtraction is harder for students to recognize. Regular practice with both problem types builds a more complete and flexible understanding of what subtraction represents.
Skills Practised
- Identifying take-away versus comparison subtraction situations
- Translating written scenarios into subtraction number sentences
- Solving one-step and multi-step subtraction word problems
- Filtering out irrelevant information in longer problems
- Labelling answers correctly and explaining reasoning
Parent Tip: Ask "are we finding what's left, or how much more?" before your child starts solving — naming the problem type out loud builds the recognition skill that word problems require.