Free worksheets · Grade 3
Find the Unknown Number Worksheet
Fill in the missing factor in each multiplication sentence, like ___ × 4 = 20.
Free printable
Find the Unknown Number
33 questions, one page, US Letter. Print it and do it on paper.
On the sheet: Read the equation. Ask what number times the other factor makes the product. If you are not sure, skip-count by the other factor until you reach the product. Write the number in the blank.
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About this worksheet
An unknown-factor problem gives the product and one factor and asks for the other: ___ × 4 = 20. It is the same fact as 20 ÷ 4, asked through multiplication.
This is how third graders connect multiplication and division. A child who knows 5 × 4 = 20 already knows the answer; the work is seeing which fact the sentence is asking about.
A worked example
3 × ___ = 12
- Ask: 3 times what number makes 12?
- Skip-count by 3 until you reach 12: 3, 6, 9, 12. That is 4 threes.
- Check it: 3 × 4 = 12.
Answer: 4
The common mistake
What it looks like: Writing the product or adding: ___ × 4 = 20 answered with 16 (20 − 4) or 24 (20 + 4).
Why it happens: The blank is in an unfamiliar place, so children reach for the numbers they can see and an operation they know.
How to fix it: Put the answer back in the sentence and read it aloud: "16 × 4 = 20?" If it isn't true, try again.
Ten minutes a day, on paper. We plan what comes next.
A printed page and a pencil. No screen, no login for your child. Snap a photo when they’re done: AI scores it, and what they missed comes back on the sheets that follow.
- Mon Find the Unknown Number
- Tue What they missed, back again
- Wed The next step, when they’re ready
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