5th grade volume of composite figures worksheets

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Find the volume of two or three joined rectangular prisms. The drawings include steps, terraces, L-shaped footprints, towers and bridges. Harder questions can remove a corner from a larger prism. Each sheet has six problems and a worked answer key. All grade 5 measurements are whole numbers.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core 5.MD.C.5.

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The kind of problems you'll get

Find each volume. Show your work and include cubic units.

  1. Two joined prisms measure 3 × 2 × 2 cm and 2 × 2 × 1 cm.

    Answer: 12 + 4 = 16 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 each sheet

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

This sheet is one of the versions on the 5th grade volume of rectangular prisms page, with its own difficulty choices and its own answer key.

How to teach this

Name the rectangular prisms before calculating. Match each measurement to its component, find each volume, then add. Every part in a problem has the same depth. When a corner is removed, subtract its volume from the enclosing prism. If a length is missing, use the stated combined lengths to recover it first. Easier sheets use two prisms; harder sheets include three components and inferred dimensions. Keep cubic units on the final volume.

Watch for: A composite figure needs a separate length × width × height calculation for each nonoverlapping prism. Multiplying every labeled number together does not give its volume. When a component volume is not given, use its length, width and height. Read each measurement from the correct prism; a shared dimension can apply to more than one part.

Common questions about 5th grade volume of composite figures

What does a problem look like on the 5th grade sheet?
Each problem shows joined rectangular prisms with letter labels and dimensions. Find the volume using the parts, or subtract a removed corner. There are six questions, with easy, default and harder settings. Grade 5 uses whole-number measurements at every level.
Does the split have to happen a particular way?
No. Any split into non-overlapping rectangular prisms gives the same total, which is the idea behind standard 5.MD.C.5. If your child cuts the figure differently from the answer key and still lands on the same volume, the method is sound.

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Aligned to Common Core 5.MD.C.5. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated September 2026.

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