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1st grade math word problems

A free printable sheet of 8 Grade 1 word problems, with a hint for a grown-up under each one and an answer key worked out by Kizupi’s math engine. Press New sheet for another.

By The Kizupi team · Updated October 27, 2026

Grade 1 word problems

Name: ____________________

  1. Anna has 6 bags of 10 marbles, plus 9 more on the table. How many marbles is that?

    Hint for a grown-up: How many marbles are in all the bags?

  2. Three jars hold fireflies. The red and blue jars have 9 together. The blue and green jars have 8 together. The red and green jars have 5 together. How many fireflies are in all three jars?

    Hint for a grown-up: If you add 9, 8 and 5, how many times is the red jar counted? How do you know?

  3. Today is Wednesday. Field day is next Wednesday. How many days is it from today until field day?

    Hint for a grown-up: Field day is on the same day of the week as today, one week later. How many days are in a week?

  4. In the owl race, Jack finishes right after the 9th runner. In what place does Jack finish?

    Hint for a grown-up: Which place comes right after 9th?

  5. In a magic triangle, the three numbers on each side add up to 18. One side has 5 and 6 in its corners. What number goes in the middle of that side?

    Hint for a grown-up: What do the two corners make together?

  6. Kizupi builds a staircase of blocks for the owl library. Step 1 is 1 block tall, step 2 is 2 blocks tall, and so on. How many blocks are in a staircase with 5 steps?

    Hint for a grown-up: Each new step adds a taller column. How many blocks does step 5 add?

  7. A butterfly is the same on both wings, like a mirror. One wing has 8 spots. How many spots does the butterfly have in all?

    Hint for a grown-up: How many spots are on the other wing? How do you know?

  8. Mia wrote 7 + 4 = 10 + 2. Kizupi says it is false. What number should Mia write instead of 2 to make it true?

    Hint for a grown-up: How much is 7 + 4? Is 10 + 2 the same?

From kizupi.com/tools · Grade 1, sheet 2027

What 1st grade math is about

The Common Core math standards say Grade 1 time should go to these areas [1]:

  • Adding and subtracting within 20, and strategies for it
  • Place value: grouping in tens and ones
  • Measuring length with units
  • Putting shapes together and taking them apart

Word problems are where those skills meet a story. Being able to compute is not the same as knowing which computation a story needs, which is why each problem here comes with a question to ask, not the answer.

The 26 skills on these sheets

Each sheet draws 8 problems from 42 Grade 1 word problems in Kizupi’s published lessons, a different skill for each where it can. Only problems that work on paper are used: nothing that needs a picture to count or a clock to read.

Count to 100 · Tens and ones · Fact families · How many more? · Star puzzles · Segment diagrams · Working backward · All the way around · Mirror halves · Logic puzzles · Comparing numbers · Jumps on the number line · Magic triangles · Adding tens · Measuring length · Equal groups · What the equal sign means · True or false equations · Compare stories to 20 · Telling time to the half hour · Days of the week · Growing patterns · First, second, third · Ten more, ten less · Halves and quarters · Guess my number

Questions parents ask

What kind of word problems do 1st graders do?

The Common Core centers Grade 1 on adding and subtracting within 20, and strategies for it; place value: grouping in tens and ones; measuring length with units; putting shapes together and taking them apart. The sheets here mix 26 skills from that year.

Is the 1st grade worksheet free?

Yes. No account and no email. Print as many sheets as you like.

Are the answers right?

Every answer is computed with exact arithmetic by the same engine that checks children’s answers in Kizupi, not typed in by hand.

My child finds 1st grade word problems hard. What helps?

Read the problem aloud together and ask what the story is about before any numbers. Use the hint under each problem, then ask “how do you know?” If it is still hard, try a Grade 1 sheet first.

1st grade word problems by topic

Other grades

Sources

  1. Common Core State Standards Initiative, Grade 1 introduction. Read October 27, 2026.

Want a tutor that asks “how do you know?” every day? Kizupi’s pixel owl reads each problem aloud, hints one small step at a time and never hands over the answer. Grades 1–6.

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