Worksheets · Pre-Algebra

One-step equation word problems worksheet for Pre-Algebra

Find the unknown and give it a letter, then find the one thing that happened to it: something added, taken away, multiplied or shared out. Write that as an equation and undo it.

Also taught in Algebra 1, at its own level and with its own examples.

Select your difficulty

Pick more than one for a sheet that mixes them.

The preview can look cramped on a phone. The PDF and printed sheet come out normal.

Free math worksheets at sigmaprep.io/worksheets© 2026 Sigma Prep

Sigma Prep · sigmaprep.io/worksheets

Name

One-Step Equation Word Problems

Date Period

Solve each problem.

  1. Solve one-step word problems

    Some pencils are shared equally among 3 students, and each gets 8. How many pencils were there?
  2. 9 bags of rice weigh 45 kilograms in all. How much does one weigh?
  3. After spending $21 on a jacket, Noah has $103 left. How much did Noah have to start with?
  4. 10 notebooks cost $22.50 in all. How much does each notebook cost?
  5. Jordan got 30 more stickers from a friend and now has 45. How many stickers did Jordan have before?
  6. Maya got 49 more stickers from a friend and now has 88. How many stickers did Maya have before?
  7. After spending $40 on a jacket, Sam has $18 left. How much did Sam have to start with?

  1. Write an equation, then solve

    Write an equation, then solve it. A team shared its car wash money equally among 8 players, and each got $32. How much did the car wash make?
  2. Write an equation, then solve it. Ana paid $35 for concert tickets and has $89 left. How much did she have before?
  3. Write an equation, then solve it. A puppy grew 17 cm this year and is now 62 cm tall at the shoulder. How tall was it a year ago?
  4. Write an equation, then solve it. A bookcase has 4 shelves with the same number of books on each, 96 books in all. How many books are on each shelf?
  5. Write an equation, then solve it. A puppy grew 15 cm this year and is now 45 cm tall at the shoulder. How tall was it a year ago?
  6. Write an equation, then solve it. A bookcase has 9 shelves with the same number of books on each, 108 books in all. How many books are on each shelf?
  7. Write an equation, then solve it. Ana paid $80 for concert tickets and has $95 left. How much did she have before?

  1. Find the whole from a part

    Two fifths of the class, 14 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?
  2. 25% of the club's members, 32 people, voted. How many members does the club have?
  3. Three eighths of the class, 6 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?
  4. Two thirds of the class, 24 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?
  5. Three fifths of the class, 9 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?
  6. Three fourths of the class, 9 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?

Free math worksheets at sigmaprep.io/worksheets© 2026 Sigma Prep

Sigma Prep · sigmaprep.io/worksheets

Name

One-Step Equation Word ProblemsAnswer keyVersion 1

Date Period

Solve each problem.

  1. Solve one-step word problems

    Some pencils are shared equally among 3 students, and each gets 8. How many pencils were there?24 pencils
  2. 9 bags of rice weigh 45 kilograms in all. How much does one weigh?5 kilograms
  3. After spending $21 on a jacket, Noah has $103 left. How much did Noah have to start with?$124
  4. 10 notebooks cost $22.50 in all. How much does each notebook cost?$2.25
  5. Jordan got 30 more stickers from a friend and now has 45. How many stickers did Jordan have before?15 stickers
  6. Maya got 49 more stickers from a friend and now has 88. How many stickers did Maya have before?39 stickers
  7. After spending $40 on a jacket, Sam has $18 left. How much did Sam have to start with?$58

  1. Write an equation, then solve

    Write an equation, then solve it. A team shared its car wash money equally among 8 players, and each got $32. How much did the car wash make?x8=32, x=$256
  2. Write an equation, then solve it. Ana paid $35 for concert tickets and has $89 left. How much did she have before?x−35=89, x=$124
  3. Write an equation, then solve it. A puppy grew 17 cm this year and is now 62 cm tall at the shoulder. How tall was it a year ago?x+17=62, x=45 cm
  4. Write an equation, then solve it. A bookcase has 4 shelves with the same number of books on each, 96 books in all. How many books are on each shelf?4x=96, x=24 books
  5. Write an equation, then solve it. A puppy grew 15 cm this year and is now 45 cm tall at the shoulder. How tall was it a year ago?x+15=45, x=30 cm
  6. Write an equation, then solve it. A bookcase has 9 shelves with the same number of books on each, 108 books in all. How many books are on each shelf?9x=108, x=12 books
  7. Write an equation, then solve it. Ana paid $80 for concert tickets and has $95 left. How much did she have before?x−80=95, x=$175

  1. Find the whole from a part

    Two fifths of the class, 14 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?35 students
  2. 25% of the club's members, 32 people, voted. How many members does the club have?128 members
  3. Three eighths of the class, 6 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?16 students
  4. Two thirds of the class, 24 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?36 students
  5. Three fifths of the class, 9 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?15 students
  6. Three fourths of the class, 9 students, signed up for the school play. How many students are in the class?12 students

Free math worksheets at sigmaprep.io/worksheets© 2026 Sigma Prep

How to do these

After spending $15, Leo has $32 left

  1. Call the starting amount x.
  2. x minus 15 is 32.
  3. Add 15 to both sides.

The answer is $47.

Where students go wrong

Using the operation in the story instead of undoing it. Spending $15 is a subtraction in the story, so it is an addition when you solve for what was there before.

Also called one step equation word problems, one-step word problems or writing one-step equations.

What you can put on this worksheet

One-step word problems
Some cards are shared equally among 5 players, and each gets 7. How many cards were there? → 35 cards
Write the equation, then solve
Write an equation, then solve it. 6 equal boxes hold 60 books in all. How many books are in each box? → 6x=60, x=10 books
A fraction or percent of an unknown
One fourth of the class, 6 students, went on the trip. How many students are in the class? → 24 students
Comparisons, change, and part of a cost
Leo read 13 more pages than Ivy. Leo read 26 pages. How many pages did Ivy read? → 13

Questions about these worksheets

Yes. Every one-step equation word problems sheet is free to print and free to download as a PDF. There is no account to make, no email to hand over and no limit on how many you take.

Yes. The answer key prints on a second page, and you can choose whether it shows each question beside its answer or just the answers in a list.

Yes. Print straight from the page, or download the PDF and print that. The sheet is laid out for paper rather than squeezed off a screen, so there is room to work under each question, and the answer key comes out on its own page.

Pre-Algebra is usually taken around 7th or 8th grade, though schools vary and plenty of students meet it earlier or later. Pick the difficulty rather than the grade: the easy level suits a first lesson on it, the hard level suits review before a test.

Yes, as many as you like. The questions are built fresh each time rather than picked from a fixed set of files, so pressing Generate gives a new sheet. That is what you want for a second class, a retake, or two students sitting next to each other.

That is the closest comparison, and Kuta Software is good software. It is also paid software you install on a computer. These worksheets run in a browser tab for free, with no account and nothing to install. Like Kuta, the one-step equation word problems questions are generated when you ask for them rather than pulled from a fixed set of files, so two classes never get the same sheet, and the answer key comes with it.

Yes. There are three levels, and you can tick more than one for a sheet that mixes them, in which case the questions come out easiest first. The harder levels are not just larger numbers: they ask for something the easy ones do not.

You pick from 4: one-step word problems, write the equation, then solve, a fraction or percent of an unknown and comparisons, change, and part of a cost. Tick as many as you want and set how many of each, or let it spread them evenly.

Using the operation in the story instead of undoing it. Spending $15 is a subtraction in the story, so it is an addition when you solve for what was there before.