Subtracting Across Zeros Worksheets for 2nd Grade

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Grade 2MathAddition & SubtractionCCSS 2.NBT.B.7

Skill: Subtracting three-digit numbers when the top number has a zero in the tens place

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Teaching tips and what to try next

Save this for second graders who already regroup confidently in Three-Digit Subtraction With Regrouping, because zeros in the tens place add a second trade. Using paper money (hundreds, tens and ones) or base-ten blocks to physically break a hundred makes the double regrouping concrete. If the trades keep slipping, step back to Two-Digit Subtraction With Regrouping; for mixed review, try Adding and Subtracting 10 and 100.

10 versions, each with its own answer key

Same skill and layout, a fresh set of problems in every version, so children can keep practicing without repeating a page. Problems are not repeated between versions unless a skill has only a small number of possible problems (for example, the addition facts within 10).

Download all 10 versions (one PDF)All 10 answer keys (PDF)

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About this worksheet

Subtraction problems like 400 – 163 or 305 – 128 are some of the hardest for second graders. The ones place needs to borrow, but the tens place has nothing to lend, so children must first regroup a hundred into ten tens and then regroup one ten into ten ones. This second-grade worksheet focuses on exactly that step.

Each page has sixteen three-digit subtraction problems in column form. Every top number has a zero in the tens place. Half of them are whole hundreds, such as 300, 500, or 900, with zeros in both the tens and the ones. The other half have a small digit in the ones place, such as 602 or 708. In every problem, the bottom number's ones digit is bigger than the top number's, so regrouping across the zero is always needed. The ten versions use new problems on every page, and each version has its own answer key.

How to use it: model the first problem out loud. For 400 – 163, say, "I can't take 3 from 0, and there are no tens to borrow, so I go to the hundreds. Four hundreds becomes three hundreds and ten tens. Then one ten becomes ten ones." Writing the new digits above the old ones keeps the work neat. Base-ten blocks or play money make the trade easy to see. Have your child check each answer by adding it to the bottom number.

The answer key shows every difference. For more practice, try our Three-Digit Subtraction With Regrouping worksheet and our Two-Digit Subtraction With Regrouping worksheet.