2nd Grade Three-Digit Subtraction With Regrouping worksheets

About this worksheet

Three-digit subtraction is the first time a second grader has to coordinate regrouping across two place-value boundaries in the same problem. Trading a hundred for ten tens uses the same idea as trading a ten for ten ones, but a child who has only ever regrouped once, at the ones place, can be caught off guard the first time the tens column runs short as well. This worksheet keeps the tens digit of the larger number above zero; a companion worksheet, Subtract Across Zeros, covers what happens when it is not. So the pattern here is the ordinary borrow: check the ones, regroup a ten if needed, then check the tens and regroup a hundred if that runs short too.

Some questions ask for the difference directly, one shows a wrong answer built by subtracting the smaller digit from the larger in each column, which is the single most common regrouping mistake, and asks your child to find the real difference instead, and a couple put the numbers into a short classroom story. Encourage your child to say out loud which place they are regrouping before writing anything down; naming the place is usually enough to stop the smaller-from-larger habit.

What your child will learn

• Subtract two three-digit numbers when the ones or tens run short
• Regroup a hundred into ten tens, and a ten into ten ones
• Catch the mistake of subtracting the smaller digit from the larger in a column
• Solve short word problems using three-digit subtraction