Subtraction Word Problems Notes & Questions | Class 3 Mathematics | Drishti OS

Subtraction Word Problems

What you'll learn

How to spot subtraction clue words: left, remaining, gave away, sold, used, lost, difference.
To turn a real-life story into a subtraction sentence and solve it, with or without borrowing.
To check whether the answer makes sense in the story's context.

Key concepts

Level 1 — Core idea

Verbal: "Ravi had 60 marbles. He gave away 24. How many are left?" → start amount − amount removed.

Symbolic: 60 − 24 = 36.

Visual: Draw 60 marbles, cross out 24, count what remains → 36.

Level 2 — Going deeper

Look for the starting amount (usually mentioned first) and the amount taken away. Words like "left", "remaining", "still has" signal subtraction. Sometimes the problem asks for a difference — "how many more/fewer" — which is also subtraction.

NCERT anchor

NCERT Math Mela, Class 3 — Chapter 4 (Long and Short) and Chapter 9 (House of Hundreds) use story contexts (heights, distances, collections) that need subtraction to compare or find what remains.

Worked example

A bookstore had 145 books. It sold 78 books on Monday. How many books are left?

Step 1 — Identify: start = 145, sold = 78, find what is left.
Step 2 — Write the sentence: 145 − 78.
Step 3 — Borrow where needed: 145 − 78 = 67.
Answer: 67 books left

Meena scored 82 marks. Sara scored 59 marks. How many more marks did Meena score?

Step 1 — "How many more" means find the difference.
Step 2 — Subtract the smaller from the larger: 82 − 59.
Step 3 — 82 − 59 = 23.
Answer: Meena scored 23 more marks

Common mistakes

Mistake	Why	Fix
Adding the two numbers instead of subtracting	Missing the clue words "left" or "more"	Underline the clue word first, then decide add or subtract
Subtracting the larger number from the smaller in "how many more" questions	Not identifying which value is bigger	Always subtract smaller from larger for a "difference" question
Forgetting to borrow inside a word problem	Rushing past the story into the sum	Solve the subtraction the same careful way as a plain sum

Quick check

A farmer had 96 hens. He sold 48. How many hens are left?
Class 3 has 260 storybooks; 175 are borrowed. How many are still on the shelf?
Aman has ₹75 and Priya has ₹48. How much more money does Aman have?
Stretch: A tank had 500 litres of water. 235 litres were used for watering plants. How many litres remain? (265 litres)

Revision tip: First underline the clue word, then write the subtraction sentence, then solve carefully column by column.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Subtraction Word Problems.

Subtraction Word Problems