Print comparing decimals worksheets, and ordering sheets, step by step: 25 sheet types, from 0.7 > 0.4 to five decimals in thousandths. Seven sheets set traps such as 0.45 against 0.5, where the longer number is the smaller.
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Which grade compares which decimals
Common Core 4.NF.7 has fourth graders compare two decimals to hundredths with >, = or <, and 5.NBT.3b extends that to thousandths. Neither mentions ordering. Texas does: 4.2(F) covers comparing and ordering to the hundredths with models, and 5.2(B) reaches thousandths. So in these comparing and ordering decimals worksheets, the ordering group's five sheets cite Texas only.
Why 0.45 is less than 0.5
Pupils who read the digits after the point as a whole number see 45 against 5 and pick 0.45. Annex a zero and the mistake shows: 0.5 = 0.50, and 0.45 < 0.50. Some then pick the shorter number every time, so 0.4 < 0.47 trips them. Longer is not larger tests the first habit and Shorter is not always larger the second.
Use Longer or shorter, no pattern to lean on as the unit check: neither false rule beats a guess.
Neighbors one hundredth apart is the closest call on the page: 3.99 against 4 shows whether a pupil reads places or digits.
Same digits, zero in a different place keeps the digits fixed, so only the point and the zeros decide 0.035 < 0.305.
Questions and answers
Which ordering decimals worksheets should come first?
Start with Order three decimals in tenths, where every number has one place. Then set Order four decimals, tenths and hundredths, and after it Order four decimals to thousandths. Order five decimals, greatest first reverses the direction.
How do you order decimals from least to greatest?
Write every number with the same number of decimal places, then read them as whole numbers. For 0.45, 0.5, 0.4 and 0.54, annexing zeros gives 45, 50, 40 and 54 hundredths, so the order is 0.4 < 0.45 < 0.5 < 0.54.
How do you compare decimals with different numbers of digits?
Line up the decimal points and compare place by place from the left; the first place that differs decides. For 2.4 and 2.386 the ones match and the tenths show 4 against 3, so 2.4 > 2.386. Annexing zeros agrees: 2.400 > 2.386.
Is 0.5 the same as 0.50?
Yes. Zeros after the last decimal digit do not change a number, so 0.5 = 0.50 = 0.500. A zero anywhere else does: 0.50 > 0.05. Equal pairs with trailing zeros mixes both kinds, and half its pairs are equal.
All 25 sheet types
Comparing two decimals, tenths to thousandths 9
Equal pairs with trailing zeros0.5 = 0.50 = 0.500, but 0.50 > 0.05. Half the pairs are equal and differ only by zeros at the end. The rest move a zero to where it changes the value. Pupils learn which zeros may be dropped and which may not.
First place that differs, tens to thousandths24.618 < 24.63. The tens, ones and tenths match, so the hundredths decide: 1 < 3. Under each pair the pupil writes the name of the deciding place, then the symbol. This is comparing by the meaning of the digits in each place, the wording of 5.NBT.3b.
Hundredths against hundredths0.62 > 0.26 and 5.08 < 5.80. Both numbers have two decimal places. Reading them as 62 hundredths and 26 hundredths settles a pair, and the key names the first place where the digits differ.
Mixed lengths to thousandths0.6 > 0.589 and 2.35 > 2.305. The two numbers in a pair never have the same number of places, from one to three. The key annexes zeros first: 0.6 = 0.600, and 600 thousandths is more than 589 thousandths.
Show all 25 sheet types (21 more)
Comparing two decimals, tenths to thousandths, continued
Tenths against hundredths0.45 < 0.5 because 0.5 = 0.50, and 45 hundredths is less than 50 hundredths. Every pair sets a number in tenths beside one in hundredths with the same whole number part. Common Core 4.NF.7 has grade 4 compare two decimals to hundredths. The page opens on this sheet.
Tenths against tenths0.7 > 0.4 and 3.2 < 3.8. Both numbers have one decimal place, so the pupil compares the ones and then the tenths, as with whole numbers. The first sheet for grade 4, before any pair has two different lengths.
Thousandths against thousandths0.372 < 0.381 and 4.905 > 4.095. Both numbers run to thousandths, the limit set by Common Core 5.NBT.3b and Texas 5.2(B). The key shows the first place that differs: here the hundredths, a 7 against an 8.
Whole number against a decimal3 > 2.99, 6 < 6.01 and 4 = 4.0. One number in each pair is printed with no point. Writing 3 as 3.00 shows that a whole number has tenths and hundredths too, all of them zero.
The whole number part decides8.19 < 9.1 and 12.05 > 9.98. The whole number parts differ in every pair, so nothing after the point matters. It checks that pupils still look left of the point first, which some stop doing once decimals arrive.
Different lengths, zeros and the longer-is-larger mistake 7
Annex zeros, then compare2.4 = 2.400 > 2.386. The pupil rewrites both numbers with the same number of places in the boxes provided, then writes the symbol. Once the lengths match, the job is a comparison of whole numbers of thousandths, 2400 against 2386.
Longer is not larger0.8 > 0.75 and 0.3 > 0.299. In every pair the number with more digits is the smaller one. A pupil who says 0.75 is greater has read 75 and 8 as whole numbers, and a full sheet of these shows the habit at once.
Longer or shorter, no pattern to lean on0.9 > 0.85 but 0.9 < 0.95. The longer number wins half the pairs and the shorter number wins the other half, in shuffled order, so neither false rule scores better than a guess. Use it as the check after the two sheets before it.
Neighbors one hundredth apart0.49 < 0.5 and 3.99 < 4, and in the first pair 0.5 − 0.49 = 0.01. The two numbers differ by exactly one hundredth, often across a tenth or a whole number. The closest calls are the ones that show whether place value is understood.
Same digits, zero in a different place0.035 < 0.305 < 0.35 < 3.5. Each pair comes from one family of numbers that share their nonzero digits. Only the point and the zeros move, so the pupil has to read place value and cannot go by the digits alone.
Shorter is not always larger0.4 < 0.47 and 2.6 < 2.61. Here the longer number is the greater one in every pair. It is the follow-up for pupils who have swapped one false rule for another and now pick the shorter number each time.
Zero in the tenths place0.07 < 0.3 and 5.06 < 5.6. One number in each pair has a 0 straight after the point. Pupils who skip that zero read 0.07 as seven tenths. The key writes both numbers in hundredths, 0.07 beside 0.30.
Ordering sets of three, four and five 5
Order five decimals, greatest first2.5 > 2.45 > 2.405 > 2.4 > 2.045. Five numbers, written from greatest to least with > signs. Turning the direction round catches pupils who sort correctly and then copy the list out the wrong way.
Order four decimals across a whole number1.95 < 2 < 2.06 < 2.6. Each set straddles a whole number and includes that number printed with no point. The pupil has to place the 2 among decimals on both sides of it.
Order four decimals to thousandths0.305 < 0.35 < 0.4 < 0.412. The sets mix one, two and three decimal places. The quick route is to annex zeros until all four have three places, giving 305, 350, 400 and 412 thousandths.
Order four decimals, tenths and hundredths0.45, 0.5, 0.4 and 0.54 in order are 0.4 < 0.45 < 0.5 < 0.54. Every set mixes tenths with hundredths and shares one whole number part, so the order depends on reading 0.5 as 0.50. Least comes first.
Order three decimals in tenths0.3 < 0.7 < 1.2. Three numbers with one decimal place each, written from least to greatest on a line with the two < signs already printed. The only new idea is that 1.2 has a whole number part and the other two do not.
In between, benchmarks and nearest 3
Between which two tenths0.47 lies between 0.4 and 0.5: 0.4 < 0.47 < 0.5. The pupil writes the tenth just below and the tenth just above each number in hundredths. It is the first half of rounding to the nearest tenth.
Less than, equal to or greater than 0.50.48 < 0.5, 0.50 = 0.5 and 0.6 > 0.5. Every number is set against one half, and one pair in five is equal, printed as 0.50 or 0.500. Which side of one half a decimal falls on is the test behind rounding to the nearest whole number.
Nearest benchmark: 0, 0.5 or 10.43 is nearest to 0.5, because 0.5 − 0.43 = 0.07 while 0.43 is a full 0.43 away from 0. No number on the sheet is 0.25 or 0.75, which are tied between two benchmarks.
Measurement, money and word problems 1
Two price tags, which is lower$4.05 < $4.50. The one money sheet on this page: two prices that use the same digits in a different order. Dollar amounts always show two places, so the lengths match and only place value is tested. Coins, bills and price lists have their own money pages.
How this list was compiled: Our own list of sheet types, written in September 2026. Every comparison, order and sum was checked twice with exact arithmetic, by two separate programs. The standards named in this list were read in the full texts on 2026-09-20. Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, https://learning.ccsso.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Math_Standards1.pdf : 4.NF.6 (decimal notation for fractions with denominators 10 or 100; locate 0.62 on a number line diagram), 4.NF.7 (compare two decimals to hundredths by reasoning about their size, record the result with >, = or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual model; comparisons are valid only when the two decimals refer to the same whole), 5.NBT.3b (compare two decimals to thousandths based on meanings of the digits in each place), 4.MD.2 (word problems with distances, liquid volumes, masses and money, including simple decimals). The Common Core standards for decimals in grades 4 and 5 speak of comparing two decimals and do not use the word order; statements of order first appear in 6.NS.7. Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Mathematics, 19 TAC chapter 111, https://tea.texas.gov/laws-and-rules/sboe-rules-tac/sboe-tac-currently-effect/ch111a.pdf : 4.2(E) (represent tenths and hundredths with concrete and visual models and money), 4.2(F) (compare and order decimals using concrete and visual models to the hundredths), 4.2(G) (relate decimals to fractions that name tenths and hundredths), 4.2(H) (the decimal for a specified point on a number line), 5.2(B) (compare and order two decimals to thousandths and represent comparisons using the symbols >, < or =). Reference articles, read 2026-09-19 unless a date is given: zeros after the last decimal digit do not change a number (5.2 = 5.20 = 5.200), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal , read 2026-09-20; the meaning of < and >, and of a chain such as a < b < c, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inequality_(mathematics) ; a number farther to the right on a number line is the greater, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_line . None of the three articles sets out a method for comparing decimals, so the method lines here state only comparisons that both programs check. The standards are a checklist for teachers; neither body has reviewed these sheets. Licence: own work