Grade 6 Subtracting Multi-Digit Decimals
Grade 6 decimal subtraction to the thousandths place using the standard algorithm. Sixteen problems on a free printable PDF with the answer key.
Subtract the decimals using the standard algorithm. Line up the decimal points.
- 1.82.951 − 60.877 =
- 2.73.419 − 23.804 =
- 3.36.742 − 5.676 =
- 4.98.292 − 5.202 =
- 5.89.941 − 41.685 =
- 6.75.308 − 31.499 =
- 7.86.556 − 45.085 =
- 8.57.376 − 14.863 =
- 9.40.151 − 4.487 =
- 10.34.627 − 23.148 =
- 11.27.682 − 7.788 =
- 12.36.505 − 3.236 =
- 13.98.494 − 20.634 =
- 14.96.611 − 2.006 =
- 15.77.243 − 46.238 =
- 16.73.854 − 28.589 =
What this worksheet covers
There are sixteen subtraction problems here, on one printable page, with the worked answer key on the second. The operands run to as many as three decimal places, so the decimal points have to be lined up rather than the right-hand digits; numbers reach 98.494. The whole sheet sits inside Common Core 6.NS.3, in the grade 6 The Number System strand.
Skills practiced
Grade 6 sits in the stretch of the subtraction progression concerned with decimals, and fractions with unlike denominators. Working the page asks a student to keep decimal points aligned rather than right-aligning digits out of habit. The useful question after marking is not how many were right but whether the same method produced all of them.
How to use this worksheet
Have the student work all sixteen problems on their own paper, showing each step, rather than filling answers into the gaps. At grade 6 the method is what is being practised, and an answer with no visible working cannot be diagnosed when it is wrong. Mark it the same day using the key on page two — an error caught immediately is a correction, and one caught next week is a habit.
One mistake to watch for
A whole number minus a decimal is misaligned: 6 − 2.75 = 4.75 or 3.25.
The whole number has no decimal point to align to, so digits are pushed to the right edge instead.
Write 6 as 6.00 before starting. The placeholder zeros make the columns unambiguous.
Related worksheets
Also aligned to 6.NS.3
Other sheets covering 6.NS.3. Same target, different problems, so a student who has seen this page has not seen these.
- Grade 6 Adding Multi-Digit Decimals — grade 6, 16 problems
A step either side
Subtraction either side of grade 6, for stepping the difficulty rather than repeating it.
- Grade 5 Subtracting Decimals to Hundredths — grade 5, 18 problems
- Grade 7 Subtracting Rational Numbers — grade 7, 20 problems
One PDF, sixteen problems, and a full key: this is grade 6 subtraction practice for decimals, and fractions with unlike denominators, free for home and classroom use.