2-Step Word Problems Involving the Four Operations

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1. Mr. Baker bought a guitar and a microphone.
The guitar cost $1589 and the microphone cost $572.
If he had $3500 at first, how much money had he left after paying for the two items?

$1589  +  $572  =  $2161
The guitar and the microphone cost $2161 altogether.

$3500  −  $2161  =  $1339
He had $1339 left after paying for the two items.

2. 2447 children participated in a drawing competition. 1250 of them were boys. How many fewer girls than boys participated in the competition?

2447  −  1250  =  1197
There were 1197 girls.

1250  −  1197  =  53
53 fewer girls than boys participated in the competition.

3. Bakery A sold 2088 muffins.
Bakery B sold 621 more muffins than Bakery A.
What is the total number of muffins sold by the two bakeries?

2088  +  621  =  2709
Bakery B sold 2709 muffins.

2088  +  2709  =  4797
The total number of muffins sold by the two bakeries is 4797.

4. Mr. Cooper made 8 boxes of cheese rolls. Each box contained 165 cheese rolls. He kept 212 for his family and sold the rest.
How many cheese rolls did he sell?

165  ×  8  =  1320     (a)
He made 1320 cheese rolls.
1320  −  212  =  1108
He sold 1108 cheese rolls.

5. Julie had some pencils and erasers. She put 3 pencils and 5 erasers into each pencil case. She got a total of 9 pencil cases.
How many pencils and erasers were there altogether?

3  +  5  =  8     (a)
There were 8 pencils and erasers in each pencil case.
8  ×  9  =  72
In 9 pencil cases, there were 72 pencils and erasers altogether.

6. James, Kai and Lee liked collecting stickers. Lee had 6 times as many stickers as Kai. James had 94 more stickers than Lee. Kai had 193 stickers. How many stickers did James have?

193  ×  6  =  1158
Lee had 1158 stickers.

1158  +  94  =  1252
James had 1252 stickers.

7. A bag of cake mix costs $15. Aryanna had $127 left after buying 5 bags of cake mix. Find the sum of money she had at first.

$15  ×  5  =  $75
The 5 bags of cake mix cost $75 altogether.

$75  +  $127  =  $202
She had $202 at first.

8. Mr. Roberts had 540 bananas. He separated 76 ripe bananas. He sold the remaining bananas equally to 8 fruit stalls. How many bananas did each fruit stall get?

540  −  76  =  464
He sold 464 bananas altogether.

464  ÷  8  =  58
Each fruit stall got 58 bananas.

9. Billy bought 5 bags of balls. Each bag contained 40 balls. He packed the balls into packets of 8 balls each. How many packets did he get?

40  ×  5  =  200     (a)
There were 200 balls altogether.
200  ÷  8  =  25
He got 25 packets.

10. A boy collects a total of 316 stamps, stickers and coins. He collects four times as many stamps as stickers. There are 46 coins. How many stickers are there?

316  −  46  =  270
There are 270 stamps and stickers.

270  ÷  5  =  54
There are 54 stickers.

11. There were a total of 19 chickens and goats on a farm. Adam counted 54 legs altogether. How many goats were there on the farm?
[Hint: A chicken has 2 legs. A goat has 4 legs.]

Start by counting 2 legs on each creature - chicken as well as goat - as each of them has at least 2 legs.

19  ×  2  =  38
So far, we have counted 38 legs, which include both the legs on each chicken and 2 legs on each goat.

4  −  2  =  2
For each goat, we need to count 2 more legs.
54  −  38  =  16
16 legs remain to be counted.


The remaining 16 legs belong to the goats; 2 for each goat.
16  ÷  2  =  8
There were 8 goats.