This page makes free printable subtracting fractions with like denominators worksheets on demand: press the button and you get a new sheet of 20 problems with a matching answer key, ready for US Letter or A4 paper. A typical problem from the sheet in front of you is 9/12 − 7/12, which works out to 1/6; another is 2/4 − 1/4, giving 1/4.
‘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.
Adding fractions with the same denominator behaves the way children expect — the denominators stay put and the numerators are added, which is all 2/4 − 1/4 requires. In 9/12 − 7/12 the answer is 1/6, and the denominator never moved.
This is the right place to establish what a denominator actually is, because the arithmetic in 8/9 − 5/9 is easy enough that the concept gets the attention.
This sheet uses like denominators from 3 to 12, and answers are given in simplest form so simplification is practised alongside the addition itself, as the item 2/3 − 1/3 on this sheet shows.
The instruction 'add the tops, keep the bottoms' is a fine shortcut and a poor explanation. Ask once per sheet why the denominator stays the same.
Work of this kind is commonly aligned with the fractions strand for grade 4; schools outside the US meet the same skill at roughly the same age, which is why these subtracting fractions with like denominators worksheets travel well.
| # | Problem | Answer | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9/12 − 7/12 = | 1/6 | Watch for: subtracting in the wrong order |
| 2 | 2/4 − 1/4 = | 1/4 | Check: adding the denominators too |
| 3 | 8/9 − 5/9 = | 1/3 | Look at: writing an improper fraction when a mixed number is expected |
| 4 | 3/6 − 1/6 = | 1/3 | Ask about: leaving the answer unsimplified |
| 5 | 2/3 − 1/3 = | 1/3 | Watch for: simplifying halfway |
| 6 | 2/8 − 1/8 = | 1/8 | Check: losing the whole-number part |
Try 8/9 − 5/9 together before letting the child start alone. The answer to 8/9 − 5/9 is 1/3, and talking through how it was reached takes about a minute and saves several minutes of guessing later in the sheet.
Work 3/6 − 1/6 out loud as a demonstration. It gives 1/3. Children who hear 3/6 − 1/6 reasoned through once at the start of a session make noticeably fewer errors in the ten minutes that follow.
Because the numbers are random, there is no shared answer list to look up: the key printed behind your sheet is the only one that fits it, and it shows 1/6 for 9/12 − 7/12.
The answer key is generated with the worksheet, not written by hand, so it always matches the sheet in front of you — 9/12 − 7/12 is listed as 1/6, 2/4 − 1/4 as 1/4, and so on down the page.
If the problems look cramped, drop the count from 20 to a smaller number before printing these subtracting fractions with like denominators worksheets; the font stays the same size and the spacing opens up.
Printing works the same on US Letter and A4, because the layout uses relative widths rather than fixed inches. Set margins to default and scaling to 100%, and all 20 problems fit.
Keep the finished subtracting fractions with like denominators worksheets in date order — the drop in time across ten sheets is the clearest progress report you will get.
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