How is this different from the multiplication word problems sheet?

The regular sheet has equal-groups stories, like rows of cars, and the answer is always a product. Here every story compares two people with 'times as many', and the missing quantity can be the larger amount or the smaller one. That is 4.OA.A.2, and it is where children start dividing inside a multiplication story.

How is it different from the multiplicative comparison sheet?

That sheet gives the equation and asks your child to complete it. This one gives only the story. Your child has to build the equation, decide whether it is a multiplication or a division, and write it down. If the story version is rough going, a few prints of the equation version first can help.

How many problems, and are the answers included?

Six stories per sheet, each a sentence or two, with room to show the work. The answer key prints with every sheet. You can pick Easier, Default, or More difficult, and each print draws new names and numbers.

4th grade multiplicative comparison word problems

4th grade multiplicative comparison word problems worksheets

Multiplicative comparison word problems for 4th grade are six short stories in "times as many" language. One person catalogs 9 books and another catalogs 3 times as many, or 21 observations is 3 times as many as someone else recorded. Your child works out the missing quantity and shows how, since the instruction asks for the method as well as the answer.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core 4.OA.A.2.

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The kind of problems you'll get

Solve each story. Show how you find the missing quantity.

Veronica cataloged 2 books for a display. Sofia cataloged 2 times as many books. How many books did Sofia catalog?
Answer: 4
Hana cataloged 9 books for a display. Ibrahim cataloged 3 times as many books. How many books did Ibrahim catalog?
Answer: 27
Kenji recorded 21 observations, which is 3 times as many as Isabelle recorded. How many observations did Isabelle record?
Answer: 7

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

Multiplicative comparison word problems. Solve each story. Show how you find the missing quantity. 6 problems per page.

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

This sheet is one of the versions on the 4th grade multiplication word problems page, with its own difficulty choices and its own answer key.

How to teach this

Before solving, have your child point to the two people in the story and say who has more. In these stories the words "times as many" can sit next to either person. Kenji recorded 21, which is 3 times as many as Isabelle, so Isabelle has less and the answer is a division: 21 divided by 3. Hana cataloged 9 and Ibrahim 3 times as many, so Ibrahim has more and the answer is 3 times 9. Same phrase, opposite operation. That is the whole difficulty of the sheet. Ask your child to write the equation before the answer, since the instruction asks to show the work and the equation is where the thinking is visible. A quick sense check helps: the person with more should end up with the bigger number. The sheet also offers Easier and More difficult settings.

Watch for: Kids multiply in every story because 'times' appears. When the larger amount is given and the smaller is asked for, the answer is a division, and the product is already in the story. Kids answer with the scale factor instead of the amount. Asked how many books Sofia cataloged, they write 2, the times, when the answer is 2 times 2 books, so 4.

Common questions about multiplicative comparison word problems

How is this different from the multiplication word problems sheet?: The regular sheet has equal-groups stories, like rows of cars, and the answer is always a product. Here every story compares two people with 'times as many', and the missing quantity can be the larger amount or the smaller one. That is 4.OA.A.2, and it is where children start dividing inside a multiplication story.
How is it different from the multiplicative comparison sheet?: That sheet gives the equation and asks your child to complete it. This one gives only the story. Your child has to build the equation, decide whether it is a multiplication or a division, and write it down. If the story version is rough going, a few prints of the equation version first can help.
How many problems, and are the answers included?: Six stories per sheet, each a sentence or two, with room to show the work. The answer key prints with every sheet. You can pick Easier, Default, or More difficult, and each print draws new names and numbers.

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Aligned to Common Core 4.OA.A.2. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 240, updated September 2026.

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