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Free 5th Grade Math Word Problems Worksheets (fractions and decimals)

Every sheet of 5th grade math word problems worksheets on this page is built the moment you open it, so the 20 problems below are not the same ones the last visitor printed, and the answer key is generated with them. You will see items like “Omar runs 5/9 of a mile every day for 7 days. How far in total?” and “A bottle holds 24.83 L. 4 bottles hold how many litres?” on the printed page, with 35/9 miles and 99.32 waiting on the answer key so nobody has to redo the arithmetic.

📄 5TH GRADE MATH WORD PROBLEMS WORKSHEETS — A NEW SHEET EVERY TIME YOU PRESS THE BUTTON
🎲 New set of problems

‘New set of problems’ opens the generator in its own tab. There you can change the problem count and turn the answer key on or off. ‘Print or save as PDF’ opens the print dialog — choose Save as PDF in the printer list to keep the file. The sheet fits US Letter and A4, and the answer key prints on its own page.

What you are practising here

A word problem tests two things at once: whether the child can choose the operation, and whether they can carry it out. On a problem like “Omar runs 5/9 of a mile every day for 7 days. How far in total?”, the arithmetic behind 35/9 miles is usually the easy part.

Because the names, objects and numbers regenerate, the child cannot recognise a problem type by its wording alone.

The reliable routine is to read it twice, say what is being asked in your own words, write the number sentence, then calculate. Skipping straight to the numbers is what produces confident wrong answers.

Answers should carry their units. A number without a unit is not an answer to a word problem, however correct the arithmetic.

Work of this kind is commonly aligned with the problem-solving expectations for this grade; schools outside the US meet the same skill at roughly the same age, which is why these 5th grade math word problems worksheets travel well.

Six problems from the sheet in front of you

These six come from the sheet loaded on this page. Press the button and the numbers change, but the shape stays the same (denominators up to 10).
#ProblemAnswerWhat to check
1Omar runs 5/9 of a mile every day for 7 days. How far in total?35/9 milesWatch for: answering a different question
2A bottle holds 24.83 L. 4 bottles hold how many litres?99.32Check: grabbing the numbers and guessing the operation
3A shelf holds 3 books per row in 4 rows. 13 books are borrowed. How many remain?-1Look at: missing a step in a two-step problem
4Theo runs 2/4 of a mile every day for 5 days. How far in total?5/2 milesAsk about: not checking whether the answer is sensible
5A bottle holds 7.10 L. 2 bottles hold how many litres?14.20Watch for: dropping the units
6Liam saves 2 dollars a week for 5 weeks and then spends 9 dollars. How much is left?1 dollarsCheck: being thrown by unfamiliar names or objects

Start with one worked example

Take the first problem on the sheet as it stands, “Omar runs 5/9 of a mile every day for 7 days. How far in total?”. Work “Omar runs 5/9 of a mile every day for 7 days. How far in total?” out on paper rather than in your head the first few times, say each step aloud, and check the result against 35/9 miles on the key before moving on.

The item “A bottle holds 24.83 L. 4 bottles hold how many litres?” is worth doing slowly. The answer to “A bottle holds 24.83 L. 4 bottles hold how many litres?” is 99.32, and the route to it is the route every other problem on this sheet takes — which is why the sheet has 20 of them rather than one.

The three errors worth watching for

How to use these worksheets at home

  1. Keep the session to about 14 minutes. A 5th grader who is still counting on fingers will need longer than that on a line like “Omar runs 5/9 of a mile every day for 7 days. How far in total?”, and that is fine: the timer is a measurement, never a punishment.
  2. Read the first two problems out loud together before starting the clock. It costs fifteen seconds and removes most of the 'I did not understand the question' errors.
  3. Use a pencil, not a pen. Children working on math word problems rethink far more often when erasing is allowed, and you get to see exactly where the rethinking happened on an item like “A shelf holds 3 books per row in 4 rows. 13 books are borrowed. How many remain?”.
  4. Do not raise the number of problems until the accuracy is steady. Going from 20 correct-but-slow problems to more problems only multiplies the same mistake.
  5. Stop the session at the time limit even if the sheet is unfinished, and note where the child got to. A half sheet done well is better data than a whole sheet rushed.

The answer key

Keys are produced by the same code that produces the questions, so a mismatch between question and answer is not possible on these sheets.

Every generated sheet carries its own key on a separate printed page, which lets a child self-mark without seeing the answers while they work.

Printing on US Letter or A4

Portrait orientation is what the sheet is designed for. Landscape works but wastes about a third of the paper, so leave the orientation alone unless you have a reason.

For a class set, print one sheet, press the new-worksheet button and print again. Each child gets different numbers on the same skill, so nobody can copy the answer to “Omar runs 5/9 of a mile every day for 7 days. How far in total?” from a neighbour.

Frequently asked questions

Will these print correctly on A4?
Yes. These 5th grade math word problems worksheets fit both A4 and US Letter without clipping, as long as print scaling is left at 100% and browser headers and footers are switched off.
Why is my child good at calculation but bad at word problems?
Because the two skills are separate. Choosing the operation is a comprehension task, and it needs its own practice — which is exactly what this sheet is for.
How many word problems in a session?
Far fewer than calculation problems — six to ten is a full 14 minutes, because a question like “A bottle holds 7.10 L. 2 bottles hold how many litres?” carries a reading load as well as a calculation.
Do I need an account to print these worksheets?
No. There is no sign-up, no email and no download step — the 5th grade math word problems worksheets are built in your browser and go straight to your printer or to a PDF file.

When these become easy, move along the related links below rather than adding more problems to the same sheet.

More worksheets like this

→ Free 5th Grade Math Worksheets  ·  → Free Word Problems Worksheets

Free printable math worksheets from a working math academy director in Korea. Problems come from our own code, not from a published workbook. Every sheet prints on US Letter or A4 with its answer key. All worksheets · Worksheet generator · Korean site
Last updated: 2026-09-13