3 Digit Subtraction Worksheets

$2nd Grade Subtraction Worksheets picture$

Welcome to our 3-Digit Subtraction Worksheets page for 2nd Grade.

Here you will find a wide range of free printable subtraction worksheets, as well as clearly explained steps to help your child learn to subtract 3-digit numbers.

There is also a video and several worked examples to help you understand how the standard subtraction method works.

The worksheets are graded so that the easier ones are at the top.

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Parts of a Column Subtraction
How to do 3 Digit Subtraction
3 Digit Subtraction Worked Examples
3 Digit Subtraction Worksheets no Regrouping
3 Digit Subtraction Worksheets with Regrouping
3 Digit Subtraction Missing Number Worksheets
Easier/Harder Worksheets
More related resources

3-Digit Subtraction Worksheets

This page contains a range of resources to help you learn and practice your 3-digit subtraction skills.

We have several worked examples so you can see how to work out different subtractions step-by-step.

We also have a range of worksheets suitable for different levels of ability.

The worksheets have been divided into three sections, with the easiest section first:

The first section contains worksheets with no regrouping needed;
The second section contains subtraction worksheets with regrouping;
The third section contains more challenging subtraction worksheets.

Using these sheets will help your child to:

subtract 3 digit numbers with and without regrouping
set out a 3-digit subtraction problem correctly
solve more complex 3 digit subtraction problems.

Parts of a Column Subtraction

Here are some of the parts of a column subtraction that we refer to in our examples:

The minuend is the number that you are subtracting from. It is on top.
The subtrahend is the number that you are subtracting. It is underneath.
The difference is the number (answer) that you are trying to find.

$parts of a subtraction equation 1$

How to do 3 Digit Subtraction

How to do 3-Digit Subtraction

$3 digit subtraction example 3$

Step 1) Subtract the Ones digit of the subtrahend from the Ones digit of the minuend.

Write the number of Ones below the line in the Ones place.
If the Ones digit underneath is greater than the Ones digit above then take a ten from the minuend and convert it into 10 ones.
If the Ones digit underneath is greater and there are no Tens in the minuend, then take one Hundred from the minuend and convert it into 10 Tens. Then take one of the tens and convert it into 10 Ones.

$3 digit subtraction example 3a$

We exchange one Ten into 10 Ones. There is now 1 Ten and 13 Ones.
Now we can subtract the Ones: 13 - 6 = 7

$3 digit subtraction example 3b$

Step 2) Subtract the Tens digit of the subtrahend from the Tens digit of the minuend.

Write the number of Tens below the line in the Tens place.
If the tens digit underneath is greater than the ones digit above then take a ten from the minuend and convert it into 10 tens.

$3 digit subtraction example 3c$

We exchange one Hundred into 10 Tens. There are now 7 Hundreds and 11 Tens.
Now we can subtract the Tens: 11 - 9 = 2

$3 digit subtraction example 3d$

Step 3) Subtract the Hundreds digit of the subtrahend from the Hundreds digit of the minuend.

Write the number of Hundreds below the line in the Hundreds place.

Subtracting the Hundreds gives us: 7 - 4 = 3

$3 digit subtraction example 3e$

This gives us a final answer of 823 - 496 = 327

3 Digit Subtraction Worked Examples

Example 1) Work out 456 - 214.

This example does not need any regrouping.

$3 digit subtraction example 1$

Step 1) Subtract the Ones digit of the subtrahend from the Ones digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Ones gives us: 6 - 4 = 2.

$3 digit subtraction example 1a$

Step 2) Subtract the Tens digit of the subtrahend from the Tens digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Tens gives us: 5 - 1 = 4.

$3 digit subtraction example 1b$

Step 3) Subtract the Hundreds digit of the subtrahend from the Hundreds digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Hundreds gives us: 4 - 2 = 2.

$3 digit subtraction example 1c$

This gives us a final answer of 456 - 214 = 242

Example 2) Work out 327 - 154.

$3 digit subtraction example 2$

Step 1) Subtract the Ones digit of the subtrahend from the Ones digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Ones gives us: 7 - 4 = 3

$3 digit subtraction example 2a$

Step 2) Subtract the Tens digit of the subtrahend from the Tens digit of the minuend.

If the tens digit underneath is greater than the ones digit above then take a ten from the minuend and regroup it into 10 tens.

We need to take 1 Hundred and regroup it into 10 Tens. We now have 2 Hundreds and 12 Tens.

$3 digit subtraction example 2b$

Now we can subtract the Tens: 12 - 5 = 7

$3 digit subtraction example 2c$

Step 3) Subtract the Hundreds digit of the subtrahend from the Hundreds digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Hundreds gives us: 2 - 1 = 1.

$3 digit subtraction example 2d$

This gives us a final answer of 327 - 154 = 173

Example 3) Work out 861 - 639.

$3 digit subtraction example 5$

Step 1) Subtract the Ones digit of the subtrahend from the Ones digit of the minuend.

If the Ones digit underneath is greater than the Ones digit above then take a ten from the minuend and regroup it into 10 ones.

We need to take 1 Ten and regroup it into 10 Ones. We now have 5 Tens and 11 Ones.

$3 digit subtraction example 5a$

Now we can subtract the Ones: 11 - 9 = 2

$3 digit subtraction example 5b$

Step 2) Subtract the Tens digit of the subtrahend from the Tens digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Tens gives us: 5 - 3 = 2

$3 digit subtraction example 5c$

Step 3) Subtract the Hundreds digit of the subtrahend from the Hundreds digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Hundreds gives us: 8 - 6 = 2.

$3 digit subtraction example 5d$

This gives us a final answer of 861 - 639 = 222

Example 4) Work out 602 - 375.

$3 digit subtraction example 4$

Step 1) Subtract the Ones digit of the subtrahend from the Ones digit of the minuend.

If the Ones digit underneath is greater and there are no Tens in the minuend, then take one Hundred from the minuend and regroup it into 10 Tens. Then take one of the tens and regroup it into 10 Ones.

We need to take 1 Ten and regroup it into 10 Ones. Since there are no Tens, we need to take 1 Hundred and regroup it into 10 Tens.

We now have 5 Hundreds and 10 Tens.

$3 digit subtraction example 4a$

We can now take 1 Ten and regroup it into 10 Ones. We now have 5 Hundred, 9 Tens and 12 Ones.

$3 digit subtraction example 4b$

We can now subtract the Ones: 12 - 5 = 7

$3 digit subtraction example 4c$

Step 2) Subtract the Tens digit of the subtrahend from the Tens digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Tens gives us: 9 - 7 = 2

$3 digit subtraction example 4d$

Step 3) Subtract the Hundreds digit of the subtrahend from the Hundreds digit of the minuend.

Subtracting the Hundreds gives us: 5 - 3 = 2.

$3 digit subtraction example 4e$

This gives us a final answer of 602 - 375 = 227

3 Digit Subtraction with No Regrouping

The first three sheets here involve subtracting 3 digit numbers, where no regrouping is needed.

They are all at the same level of difficulty.

The last sheet involves setting out 3-digit subtraction problems with no regrouping correctly and then solving them.

$3 digit subtraction no regrouping 1$

$3 digit subtraction no regrouping 2$

$3 digit subtraction with no regrouping 3$

$3 digit subtraction with no regrouping 4$

3 Digit Subtraction with Regrouping

Sheet 1 involves only 3-digit subtraction with regrouping from tens to ones.
Sheet 2 involves regrouping from hundreds to tens only.
Sheet 3 involves regrouping from hundreds to tens, or tens to ones, but not both.
Sheets 4 to 6 involve 3-digit subtraction with regrouping and are at a similar level.
Sheets 7 and 8 involve setting out 3-digit subtraction problems and then solving them.