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Math · Grade 2 · 3 min read

2nd grade math word problems: 15 examples with answers

15 Grade 2 math word problems with answers: addition and subtraction within 100, compare problems, two-step problems, money and length.

Here are 15 word problems at a Grade 2 level, grouped by type. Answers follow each group. Encourage your child to draw a picture or bar model and write a number sentence before checking.

Adding and taking away

  1. There are 14 red apples and 9 green apples. How many apples are there?
  2. 32 balloons were at a party. 15 popped. How many balloons are left?
  3. A bus has 25 people on it. 18 more get on. How many people are on the bus now?
  4. The library had 63 books on a shelf. 27 were checked out. How many are still on the shelf?

Answers: 1. 14 + 9 = 23 apples. 2. 32 − 15 = 17 balloons. 3. 25 + 18 = 43 people. 4. 63 − 27 = 36 books.

Compare problems

  1. Mia has 46 beads. Zoe has 28 beads. How many more beads does Mia have?
  2. Leo needs 50 stamps to fill his book. He has 37. How many more does he need?
  3. Plant A is 45 centimeters tall. Plant B is 18 centimeters shorter. How tall is Plant B?

Answers: 1. 46 − 28 = 18 more beads. 2. 50 − 37 = 13 stamps. 3. 45 − 18 = 27 centimeters.

Missing start and two-step problems

  1. Some fish were in a tank. 17 more were added. Now there are 40 fish. How many were there at the start?
  2. 24 children are in the pool. 13 more jump in, then 9 get out. How many children are in the pool now?
  3. Kim had 50 stickers. She gave 12 to her sister and 15 to her friend. How many stickers does she have left?

Answers: 1. 40 − 17 = 23 fish. 2. 24 + 13 = 37, then 37 − 9 = 28 children. 3. 50 − 12 = 38, then 38 − 15 = 23 stickers.

Place value, money, length and arrays

  1. Jack has 3 bags of 10 marbles and 4 loose marbles. How many marbles does he have?
  2. Ella has 75 cents. She spends 40 cents. How much does she have left?
  3. A rope is 48 inches long. Dad cuts off 19 inches. How long is the rope now?
  4. Nina has 2 quarters and 3 dimes. How much money does she have?
  5. A plate has 4 rows of cookies with 5 cookies in each row. Write an addition sentence to find the total.

Answers: 1. 30 + 4 = 34 marbles. 2. 75 − 40 = 35 cents. 3. 48 − 19 = 29 inches. 4. 50 + 30 = 80 cents. 5. 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 = 20 cookies.

Which problems are hardest?

Compare problems ("how many more") and missing start problems are usually the trickiest in Grade 2. The words suggest adding, but the answer is found by subtracting. Drawing a bar for each amount makes the difference easy to see.

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