Addition and Subtraction
2-Step Word Problems
Aim: I can solve 2-step problems involving addition and subtraction.
1. John buys 12 pencils one week, and 7 the
following week. He gives 3 pencils to his friend.
How many pencils does he have left?
2. Lydia has 15 marbles. She takes them to her
friend’s house. She loses 3 on the way and 4 in the
house.
How many does she have left?
3. Asif has a packet of biscuits. There are 12 in the
packet. He gives 6 of the biscuits to some friends.
He buys another packet of 12 biscuits.
How many biscuits does he have now?
4. Amina collects 23 conkers. She gives 6 of the
conkers to her brother and 8 to her sister.
How many conkers does she have left?
5. James and Zain bring their football cards to share
with their friend Thomas.
James brings 14 and Zain brings 11.
They give Thomas 8 cards between them.
How many do James and Zain have left altogether?
6. A greengrocer has a box of apples.
In the morning he sells 17 apples.
In the afternoon he sells 6 apples.
At the end of the day there are 11 apples left in the box.
How many apples were there at the start of the day?
7. In a school kitchen, the cook has 20 pie trays.
She makes meat pies and vegetarian pies.
The cook uses 8 trays for the meat pies and 7 for the
vegetarian pies.
How many trays are not used?
8. A teacher collects a bag of 28 balls for a PE lesson.
There are 3 colours of ball.
There are 13 blue balls and 8 green balls.
How many red balls are there?
9. A farmer has 26 cows, which he keeps in 3 fields.
After counting 12 in the first field and 5 in the second,
how many cows would he expect to find in the third?
10. A photographer takes 34 photographs in a day.
She takes 13 in the morning and 12 in the afternoon.
She takes the rest of the photographs in the evening.
How many photographs does she take in the evening?
Addition and Subtraction
2-Step Word Problems
Answer Sheet
question answer
John buys 12 pencils one week, and 7 the following week. He gives 3 pencils to his friend.
1.
How many pencils does he have left?
16
Lydia has 15 marbles. She takes them to her friend’s house. She loses 3 on the way and 4 in the house.
2.
How many does she have left?
Asif has a packet of biscuits. There are 12 in the packet. He gives 6 of the biscuits to some friends.
3. He buys another packet of 12 biscuits.
How many biscuits does he have now?
18
Amina collects 23 conkers. She gives 6 of the conkers to her brother and 8 to her sister.
4.
How many conkers does she have left?
James and Zain bring their football cards to share with their friend Thomas. James brings 14 and Zain
5. brings 11. They give Thomas 8 cards between them.
How many do James and Zain have left altogether?
17
A greengrocer has a box of apples. In the morning he sells 17 apples. In the afternoon he sells 6 apples.
6. At the end of the day there are 11 apples left in the box.
How many apples were there at the start of the day?
34
In a school kitchen, the cook has 20 pie trays. She makes meat pies and vegetarian pies. The cook uses 8
7. trays for the meat pies and 7 for the vegetarian pies.
How many trays are not used?
5
A teacher collects a bag of 28 balls for a PE lesson. There are 3 colours of ball. There are 13 blue balls
8. and 8 green balls.
How many red balls are there?
A farmer has 26 cows, which he keeps in 3 fields. After counting 12 in the first field and 5 in the second,
9.
how many cows would he expect to find in the third?
A photographer takes 34 photographs in a day. She takes 13 in the morning and 12 in the afternoon. She
10. takes the rest of the photographs in the evening.
How many photographs does she take in the evening?
