Grade 2 Subtraction Word Problems Worksheets
Start with eight focused practice problems, then use the answer key below to check the worksheet.
Practice Worksheet
Grade 2 Subtraction Word Problems Practice
Solve each problem. Show your work.
- 1.Mason baked 75 cookies and shared 60 of them with friends. How many cookies does Mason have left?
(word problem)
- 2.A ribbon is 11 cm long. Ava cuts off 5 cm. How long is the ribbon now?
(word problem)
- 3.Olivia had 70 marbles. They gave away 23. How many marbles does Olivia have left?
(word problem)
- 4.There were 39 birds in a tree. 8 of them flew away. How many birds are left in the tree?
(word problem)
- 5.Emma baked 14 cookies and shared 6 of them with friends. How many cookies does Emma have left?
(word problem)
- 6.There were 19 birds in a tree. 1 of them flew away. How many birds are left in the tree?
(word problem)
- 7.A jug holds 14 litres of water. Ava poured out 1 litres. How many litres are left?
(word problem)
- 8.A jug holds 17 litres of water. Ethan poured out 16 litres. How many litres are left?
(word problem)
Show answer key
- Question 1: 15
- Question 2: 6
- Question 3: 47
- Question 4: 31
- Question 5: 8
- Question 6: 18
- Question 7: 13
- Question 8: 1
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About These Worksheets
Grade 2 students solve two-step subtraction word problems and must decide between addition and subtraction.
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.