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Numbers · Grade 2

Three-Digit Expanded Form Worksheets

A digit tells a different amount in each place. Write each amount as a sum to show how the whole number is built.

6 problemsAnswer key includedFree printableA4 & US Letter
Generate & printSee the worked example

Show the value of each digit

In 352, the 3 represents three hundreds, the 5 represents five tens, and the 2 represents two ones. Expanded form records those amounts as a sum.

352 = 300 + 50 + 2

Three hundreds + five tens + two ones make the same 352.

Digits and values are different

The tens digit in 352 is 5, but its value is 50. Writing 3 + 5 + 2 gives 10, so it cannot represent 352. Ask the child to say “five tens” before writing 50.

  1. Read the hundreds digit and write its value.
  2. Read the tens digit and write its value.
  3. Write the ones value.
  4. Add the parts to check that they make the original number.

Keep track of a zero place

For 406, there are four hundreds, no tens, and six ones. Both 400 + 0 + 6 and 400 + 6 are correct. The answer key leaves out zero terms. The zero must still stay in the ordinary numeral 406: writing 46 changes the number.

For 790, write 700 + 90. For 500, the only nonzero part is 500. The absence of a plus sign does not make that answer wrong.

If a child writes 400 + 60 for 406: ask which position contains the 6. Have the child label the hundreds, tens, and ones before trying again. Six ones have a value of 6, while six tens have a value of 60.

Connect symbols to quantities

Use available base-ten blocks or draw labeled bundles to represent the hundreds, tens, and ones. Point to each quantity as the child reads the corresponding term. These printable questions show numerals; the physical or drawn model is an optional teaching support.

Check more than the total

For this activity, use one term for each nonzero place. Although 300 + 52 also equals 352, it does not yet show the separate tens and ones. Ask the child to break 52 into 50 + 2. A reordered sum such as 2 + 50 + 300 has the same correct place-value parts; hundreds-first order simply makes checking easier.

About this practice

The source questions use whole numbers from 100 through 999. Children write expanded form, including numbers with zero tens or ones when those occur. A set does not guarantee a zero place. This activity supports understanding place value; it does not assess writing number names or reading a base-ten picture.

Make a practice set

Choose what to print. Selecting both shows the answer key on screen and prints the questions followed by the answers.

Print materials

After the practice

Choose one answer and ask what each term counts. Then cover the original numeral and rebuild it from the expanded form. Accept an explicit zero term even when the answer key omits it.

More about numbers · Grade 2 worksheets

Grade 2 selected skill connection: 2.NBT.A.3. See the Common Core grade guidance. This worksheet does not cover every requirement in the standard.