What does the r in the answer key mean?

Remainder. A 4th grade answer like 58 ÷ 9 = 6 r 4 shows the quotient and the leftover, and the key also states the final in-context answer, like 7 vans, when the story requires rounding up.

Why does my child get the division right but the answer wrong?

That is the remainder interpretation step, and it is the actual 4.OA.A.3 skill. The computation and the conclusion are separate moves. Ask what the leftover means in the story before the answer goes on the line.

4th grade division word problems

4th grade division word problems worksheets

In fourth grade the leftovers arrive. Division word problems bring remainders (4.OA.A.3) and one-digit long division (4.NBT.B.6), and the story decides what the remainder means. Some call these story problems, and the name fits here: 58 kids in vans of 9 gives a different answer than 58 pencils in boxes of 9.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core 4.NBT.B.6.

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The kind of problems you'll get

Read each problem. Show your work. Write the number of full groups and the number left over.

A summer camp welcomes 8 campers, and each cabin sleeps 2 campers. How many cabins can be filled, and how many campers still need a bunk?
Answer: 4
A lake tour has 146 registered riders, and each boat seats 4 riders. How many boats can be filled, and how many riders still need a seat?
Answer: 36
Marcus displays 522 postcards on racks that each hold 7 postcards. How many full racks can Marcus fill, and how many postcards remain?
Answer: 74

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

Division word problems. Read each problem. Show your work. Write the number of full groups and the number left over. 5 problems per page.

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

How to teach this

The remainder question is where your coaching pays off, so end every problem by asking what the leftover means here. Three honest outcomes: round up (vans), drop it (full boxes), or the remainder itself is the answer (kids left standing). Let long division live in the work space, written out fully, because skipped steps are where digits vanish.

Watch for: Kids write the remainder into the answer no matter what the question asks, so the school needs '6 r 4' vans. Ask what the leftover means in the story. Sometimes it rounds the answer up, sometimes it gets dropped, and sometimes it is the answer. Kids treat division as brand-new learning instead of multiplication reversed. Have them check every quotient by multiplying back: if 42 ÷ 7 = 6, then 7 × 6 must rebuild 42. Kids divide the numbers in the order they appear, even when the total comes second in the story. Have them find the total first and say it out loud. The big amount is the thing being split.

Common questions about division word problems

What does the r in the answer key mean?: Remainder. A 4th grade answer like 58 ÷ 9 = 6 r 4 shows the quotient and the leftover, and the key also states the final in-context answer, like 7 vans, when the story requires rounding up.
Why does my child get the division right but the answer wrong?: That is the remainder interpretation step, and it is the actual 4.OA.A.3 skill. The computation and the conclusion are separate moves. Ask what the leftover means in the story before the answer goes on the line.

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Aligned to Common Core 4.NBT.B.6. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 240, updated September 2026.

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