Multi-digit multiplication: printable worksheets

Multi-digit multiplication is the first time many students meet a calculation that has several steps, and it rewards patience more than speed. To multiply a three-digit number by a one-digit number, or two two-digit numbers together, a student has to split the work by place value, multiply each piece, and then put the pieces back together without losing track of any of them. The worksheet on this page gives fourth graders steady practice at exactly that, with answers you can check.

You choose the size of the problems, from a two-digit number times a single digit up to four digits times one digit and two digits times two digits, and an extension with three digits times two digits. You also choose how much carrying is needed, and whether zeros appear inside the numbers, because a zero in the middle of a factor is where many careless mistakes begin. Problems can be set up vertically, written across, drawn as an area model, or laid out as a lattice, and the worked solutions can follow the standard algorithm, partial products, the area model or the lattice method.

Ways to build understanding

Estimating first helps a child notice when an answer is far too large or too small. Hidden digits turn the problem around and ask the child to reason about what must be there. A find the mistake setting shows a finished problem in which one carried digit was dropped.

• Choose partial products when a child is still learning why the algorithm works.
• Turn on estimate first to build the habit of checking whether an answer is sensible.
• Use the area model or lattice for learners who think better with a picture.

Open the sample in the builder to change any of these choices and print your own sheet.