Printable Two-Digit Subtraction Worksheets

Printable two-digit subtraction worksheets for 1st and 2nd grade, with an answer key on every sheet. The sets below cover 4 different skills, so you can start where your child actually is. Available as speed drills, word problems, and sorting activities.

Targeted Practice by Skill

About Two-Digit Subtraction

What this skill is

Two-digit subtraction teaches subtracting 2-digit numbers vertically, borrowing (regrouping) 1 ten as 10 ones when the top ones digit is smaller than the bottom ones digit.

When children learn it

Two-digit subtraction without regrouping starts in 1st grade; regrouping is mastered in 2nd grade, aligned to 2.NBT.B.5.

Teaching Tips

  • Check ones column first: if top is smaller, go next door and borrow 1 ten.
  • Cross out the top tens digit immediately and write its reduced value.

Common Mistakes

  • Subtracting the smaller digit from the larger digit regardless of top/bottom position (for 52 - 27, writing ones difference as 7 - 2 = 5).
  • Forgetting to reduce the top tens digit by 1 after borrowing.