5th grade volume of rectangular prisms worksheets
Volume worksheets for fifth grade connect unit-cube layers, prism dimensions, and the formula length times width times height. Other worksheets decompose composite solids into rectangular prisms and add the component volumes.
Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core 5.MD.C.5.
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The kind of problems you'll get
Find the volume of each prism. Show your work and include cubic units.
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Rectangular prism: 4 cm by 3 cm by 2 cm.
Answer: 4 × 3 × 2 = 24 cm³.
Most problems on this sheet sit beside a picture, model or diagram, so this is the worked example the sheet itself prints. The answer key on page two prints the answer under every problem.
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 a 5th grade sheet
- Volume of rectangular prisms. Find the volume of each prism. Show your work and include cubic units. 8 problems per page.
- Volume with unit cubes. Each small cube represents one cubic unit. Find each volume. 6 problems per page.
- Volume of composite figures. Find each volume. Show your work and include cubic units. 6 problems per page.
Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key after the problems.
How to teach this
Build the layer picture before leaning on the formula: length times width tells you how many cubes sit in the bottom layer, and the height tells you how many layers stack up. Saying it that way ("8 in a layer, 3 layers") makes multiplying feel obvious and adding feel silly. Watch the units on the answer line; cu in and cu cm are the tell that your child knows this is filling, not covering. For a composite solid, mark a clean dividing plane, find each prism's volume separately, and add only after all three dimensions of both parts are accounted for.
Watch for: Kids add the three dimensions instead of multiplying. Volume counts unit cubes layer by layer, so the three numbers multiply. Kids write square units on a volume answer. Filling space takes cubic units, so it's cu in, not sq in.
Common questions about 5th grade volume of rectangular prisms
- What does a problem on the sheet look like?
- Some worksheets use unit-cube layers and rectangular prisms. Others show composite solids that students split into two prisms before combining their volumes.
- Why is the answer in cubic units?
- Volume counts the unit cubes that fill the inside of the prism, and each of those is a cube: an inch long, wide, and tall. So the count comes out in cubic inches, written cu in.
Related worksheets
- 6th grade volume of rectangular prisms A step harder, same skill
- 6th grade surface area using nets The next step, in 6th grade
- 5th grade volume with unit cubes A version of this sheet, on its own page
- 5th grade volume of composite figures A version of this sheet, on its own page
- Volume of rectangular prisms, all grades The full progression
- All 5th grade math worksheets Every skill at this level
- All 5th grade worksheets Everything at this level
- 3d shapes chart Reference chart · Kindergarten to 5th grade
- Geometry formulas chart Reference chart · 3rd grade to 8th grade
- Perfect cubes chart Reference chart · 6th grade to 8th grade
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Aligned to Common Core 5.MD.C.5. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 240, updated September 2026.
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