Is this the same as making change practice?

Yes, with dollars-and-cents prices. Your child counts up from a cost like $2.35 to the amount paid, writing answers in full dollar form. It folds the second grade coin work into real price tags.

How should my child show their work?

Each problem leaves room to work: jot the count-up jumps there (65¢ to $3.00, then $2.00 to $5.00) and add them on the answer line. The key shows the same solution path, so checking together is quick.

3rd grade money word problems

3rd grade money word problems worksheets

Word problems for grade 3 move into dollars and cents: a book costs $2.35, someone pays with $5.00, and your child finds the change. The coin pictures are gone now. Some teachers call these story problems, and this is the grade where they start to look like real shopping.

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The kind of problems you'll get

Read each story. Show your reasoning and include the unit in each answer.

Benjamin pays $1.00 at the register for a board game costing $0.87. How much money should the cashier return?
Answer: $0.13
At the school garden sale, Harper pays $5.00 for a plant costing $0.79. How much change is due?
Answer: $4.21
At a fair booth, Riley buys a stuffed animal for $1.98 and pays with $10.00. What change is due?
Answer: $8.02

Every print pulls a fresh set of problems at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.

What's on each sheet

Money word problems. Read each story. Show your reasoning and include the unit in each answer. 5 problems per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key after the problems.

How to teach this

Have your child read the problem twice and name the job before touching a pencil: total or change. For change from $5.00, count up through coins to the next dollar, then whole dollars the rest of the way, jotting each jump in the work space. Check the written answer keeps two cents places, like $2.65.

Watch for: Kids answer with the number of coins in the story, so 2 dimes and 3 pennies becomes 5. Have them say each coin's value out loud before adding it on. Kids add the cost and the money paid when the story asks for change. Circle the question together: change means starting at the cost and counting up to what was paid. Kids drop the final zero and write $2.6, or leave the unit off entirely. Money keeps two places after the decimal point, and every answer needs its ¢ or $.

Common questions about money word problems

Is this the same as making change practice?: Yes, with dollars-and-cents prices. Your child counts up from a cost like $2.35 to the amount paid, writing answers in full dollar form. It folds the second grade coin work into real price tags.
How should my child show their work?: Each problem leaves room to work: jot the count-up jumps there (65¢ to $3.00, then $2.00 to $5.00) and add them on the answer line. The key shows the same solution path, so checking together is quick.

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Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 240, updated September 2026.

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