3rd Grade Times as Many Word Problems Worksheet: 4 Comparison Stories

Some stories do not join groups together. They compare two amounts. This 3rd grade times as many word problems worksheet has 4 of these stories, with space to work under each. John sells 7 times as many cars as teddy bears. Lucy counts 2 times as many red crayons as blue ones. Larry and his sister collect 12 marbles on Monday and four times as many on Tuesday, and Vanessa uses apples to make vinegar. The page has no pictures, just clean lines for the working. A second page gives the answer key.

Times as many means multiply

In "7 times as many cars as teddy bears," the bears are the starting amount. John sold 5 bears, so the cars are 7 groups of 5: 7 × 5 = 35.

A drawing helps. One bar shows the bears. Seven bars of the same length, set side by side under the first one, show the cars that John sold that day. This model of multiplicative comparison works for every story on the page.

At the table: the extra detail

The words "twice as many" in problem 4 mean 2 times. Vanessa used 5 apples yesterday, so today she used 2 × 5 = 10.

The same story mentions two bottles of vinegar. That extra detail plays no part in the answer, and a child who multiplies by it again gets 20. Ask your child to underline only the numbers the story needs. Comparison stories are a grade 4 goal in the Common Core, so this page is a stretch.

After the page: compare at home

Use toys or snacks from the kitchen, because real objects make the words "times as many" easy to see and touch. Put 3 blocks in one pile. Your child builds a pile with 4 times as many, then writes the number sentence 4 × 3 = 12.

Swap the words and try "3 more than" next. The contrast between adding and multiplying is the real lesson. Finish by checking each story with the answer key.