Multiplication and Division Word Problems

Year 6 maths worksheets on multiplication and division word problems: 36 questions in three levels (All, Most, Some) with answers. Free PDF.

7-page A4 PDF from the Tiger Shark Education question bank. All: Solve simple multiplying and sharing problems. Most: Solve two-step problems and find missing numbers. Some: Solve problems using all four operations. Each level is two pages of six questions, each with a squared working area, and the last page has every answer, with short working for multi-step questions. Each level is also available as its own 3-page PDF. Example questions from the Some level: 5 minibuses each carry 31 people, and 28 more walk. How many people in total? / A florist has 26 flowers and shares them equally into 2 vases. She then adds 8 more to each vase. How many flowers are in each vase now?

What are multiplication and division word problems? These problems describe real situations, such as costs, groups, rates and scaling, where children must decide whether to multiply or divide and often combine both in several steps. Year 6 problems frequently mix operations and require a remainder or a unit to be interpreted correctly.

Common mistakes and tips: Children often divide the wrong way round (smaller number by larger) or multiply when the problem needs division. Drawing a bar model or a quick diagram shows the structure. Estimation is a powerful check: if each ticket costs about £10 and 30 people go, the total must be about £300.

This topic is part of the Year 6 National Curriculum for maths, and it regularly appears on the KS2 SATs papers. The All, Most and Some levels let you check basic fluency first and then move on to the multi-step, contextual questions found on the reasoning papers.

How teachers use these sheets: as a lesson’s independent task, as a starter to revisit a topic from earlier in the year, or as a revision pack in the weeks before the SATs. Children can mark their own work with the answer page, then explain one mistake to a partner to deepen understanding.

Reasoning and explanation: once children can answer the questions, ask them to explain their method to a partner or write a short explanation of one answer. The SATs reasoning papers include ‘explain how you know’ questions, and talking about methods deepens understanding far more than repeating calculations.

Use All for children working towards the expected standard, Most for secure Year 5 skills and Some for SATs-standard practice: three entry points to the same lesson. Suits whole-class differentiation, intervention groups, homework and SATs revision, and upper KS2 generally.

Part of a set of 42 Year 6 maths topics.