Subtraction Worksheets for Grade 3

Press Make a new sheet for 12 three-digit problems that all regroup, then print.

Sheet type

Problems

Answer key

12 problems. 3-digit subtraction with regrouping, zeros included. Sheet CU79M6, with its answer key.

3-digit subtraction with regrouping, zeros included

Name Date Score / 12

Subtract. Start with the ones, and regroup when the top digit is too small.

Sheet CU79M6 · Made at homeroomtools.com

Answer key. 3-digit subtraction with regrouping, zeros included

1.190
2.526
3.519
4.508
5.643
6.238
7.385
8.154
9.463
10.336
11.384
12.399

Sheet CU79M6 · Made at homeroomtools.com

Next step Print the matching 3-digit addition steps Subtract across zeros with 4-digit numbers

How it works

403 − 157 = 246 regroups across a zero. These subtraction worksheets for grade 3 open on 12 three-digit problems that all regroup; other sheets take away 2-digit numbers or whole tens, all within 1,000.

Read the full guide

Third grade subtraction worksheets in teaching order

Steps 1 to 4 add one difficulty at a time: no regrouping, a ten only, a hundred only, then both, as in 734 − 258 = 476. Print a step until it is quick. Then open Subtracting across zeros, which starts with a 0 in the tens place and ends with 1,000 − 364.

Tens, hundreds and estimates in your head

Four sheets leave the columns behind. 10 less across a hundred prints 304 − 10 = 294, and Whole tens reads 630 − 250 as 63 tens take away 25 tens. Estimate to the nearest 100, then subtract has two boxes a problem; Texas 3.4(B) names that rounding.

Check that the 68 in 524 − 68 sits under the tens and ones, not a column too far left.
When Step 4 goes wrong, reprint Steps 2 and 3 to see which regrouping slips, the ten or the hundred.

Questions and answers

How do you subtract across zeros in grade 3?

Regroup from the first place that has something to give. In 500 − 237 a hundred becomes 10 tens, then one ten becomes 10 ones, which leaves 4 hundreds, 9 tens and 10 ones, and the answer is 263.

What subtraction is expected in third grade?

Common Core 3.NBT.2 asks grade 3 to subtract fluently within 1,000, and Texas 3.4(A) asks for one-step and two-step problems within 1,000. Both name the standard algorithm a year later, in 4.NBT.4 and Texas 4.4(A).

How many problems fit on a grade 3 sheet?

The stacked sheets open with 12 problems, and the Problems list offers 6 to 30. Full page of 30, 3-digit minus 3-digit prints 6 rows of 5 with little room for working, so keep it for pupils whose method is secure.

All 16 sheet types

3-digit minus 3-digit, step by step 5

3-digit subtraction with regrouping, zeros included The opening sheet: 12 stacked problems that all need regrouping, and some cross a zero, such as 403 − 157 = 246. The tens place is empty there, so a hundred becomes 10 tens first and one of those tens becomes 10 ones. Common Core 3.NBT.2 asks grade 3 for fluency within 1,000.
Step 1: 3-digit subtraction with no regrouping No column needs help: each top digit is at least as big as the one below it, as in 678 − 245 = 433. Use it to fix the habit of starting with the ones, because that order begins to matter on the next three steps.
Step 2: regroup a ten into ones Only the ones column is short. In 562 − 237 = 325 there are 2 ones and 7 to take, so a ten is regrouped: 5 tens become 4, and 12 − 7 = 5. The tens and hundreds then subtract with nothing more to do. Grade 2 met this move with 2-digit numbers.

Show all 16 sheet types (13 more)

3-digit minus 3-digit, step by step, continued

Step 3: regroup a hundred into tens The ones are fine and the tens are short. In 628 − 354 = 274 there are 2 tens and 5 to take, so a hundred is regrouped: 6 hundreds become 5, and 12 tens take away 5 tens leaves 7 tens. Regrouping a hundred is the one new idea on this page.
Step 4: regroup twice, a ten and a hundred Both regroupings in one problem. In 734 − 258 = 476 the ones need a ten, which leaves 2 tens; 2 tens cannot give 5, so a hundred is regrouped as well. The top number ends up held as 6 hundreds, 12 tens and 14 ones, which is still 734.

Subtracting across zeros 3

From 1,000: take away a 3-digit number Every problem starts from 1,000, as in 1,000 − 364 = 636. Three regroupings, one after another, leave 9 hundreds, 9 tens and 10 ones to subtract from. It is the largest top number that Common Core 3.NBT.2 covers, since the standard stops at 1,000.
From a whole hundred: 500 − 237 and the like The top number is 200, 300 and so on up to 900, so both lower places are empty: 500 − 237 = 263. After regrouping, 500 is held as 4 hundreds, 9 tens and 10 ones. A pupil who subtracts upward in each column gets 337, and this page shows that habit quickly.
Zero in the tens place of the top number Every top number has a 0 in the tens place, as in 605 − 238 = 367. The ones need a ten and there is none, so 6 hundreds become 5 hundreds and 10 tens, and then 10 tens become 9 tens and 10 ones. That is two regroupings for one short column.

Mixed sizes and whole pages 3

3-digit minus 2-digit, stacked The 2-digit number sits under the tens and ones, with nothing under the hundreds: 524 − 68 = 456. Both lower columns regroup here, so the hundreds digit drops from 5 to 4 although nothing was taken from it directly. Writing the 68 one column too far left is the usual slip.
Full page of 30, 3-digit minus 3-digit Thirty problems in 6 rows of 5, such as 851 − 467 = 384, with regrouping mixed at random and a zero on top now and then. There is little room for working, so print it once the method is secure and the aim is a steady pace down a whole page.
Subtraction within 1,000 warm-up, mixed sizes The plain mixed page: 12 stacked problems with numbers of any size up to 1,000, such as 731 − 86 = 645. Nothing is controlled, so regrouping comes as it falls, 0 is never taken away and no answer is 0. Use it as a cold check before you choose a step.

Tens, hundreds and estimates in your head 4

3-digit minus whole tens, crossing a hundred The tens run out, so the hundreds digit moves down: 434 − 50 = 384, since 43 tens take away 5 tens is 38 tens. Counting back in tens shows why: 424, 414, 404, 394, 384. The ones digit never changes, which makes a quick check.
10 less across a hundred Every number has a 0 in the tens place, so taking 10 tips it into the hundred below: 304 − 10 = 294. An answer of 394 or 204 shows that a digit was changed without a thought for its value. Twenty quick problems, printed side by side, all done in the head.
Estimate to the nearest 100, then subtract Two boxes for each problem: the estimate first, then the exact answer. For 612 − 289 = 323 the rounded numbers give 600 − 300 = 300, close enough to trust 323 and to reject 477. Texas 3.4(B) names rounding to the nearest 10 or 100 for estimating answers to subtraction problems.
Whole tens: 630 − 250 and the like Both numbers are multiples of 10, as in 630 − 250 = 380. Read it as 63 tens take away 25 tens, which is 38 tens: a 2-digit subtraction with a zero on the end. Some problems regroup a hundred, and none has anything in the ones place.

Word problems 1

Compare word problems within 1,000: how many more or fewer? Nothing is taken away; two amounts are compared. One jar holds 342 beads and another holds 275, and the question is how many more are in the first jar: 342 − 275 = 67. Some ask how many fewer. Texas 3.5(A) asks for problems to 1,000 shown with pictorial models, number lines and equations, so each box leaves room to draw.

How this list was compiled: Sheet types, wording and worked examples are own work. Every worked example, every middle step and every wrong answer named in a description was computed on 2026-09-19, the examples twice (by subtracting and by adding the answer back). Standard numbers were read on 2026-09-19 in the full text of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (California Department of Education copy, https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/ccssmathstandardaug2013.pdf): 2.NBT.7 (add and subtract within 1000 with models or drawings), 2.NBT.8 (mentally subtract 10 or 100), 3.NBT.1 (round to the nearest 10 or 100), 3.NBT.2 (fluently add and subtract within 1000, with the footnote 'A range of algorithms may be used') and 3.OA.8 (two-step word problems, checked by estimation); and in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Mathematics, 19 TAC chapter 111 subchapter A (https://tea.texas.gov/sites/default/files/ch111a.pdf): 2.7(B) (10 or 100 more or less than a number), 3.4(A) (one-step and two-step problems within 1,000), 3.4(B) (round or use compatible numbers to estimate) and 3.5(A) (problems to 1,000 using pictorial models, number lines, and equations). Method names (partial differences, counting up, same change) were checked on 2026-09-19 against Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtraction . The sheets follow no single curriculum, and naming a standard does not mean a sheet is approved by anyone. Licence: own work