Word Problem Keywords Chart: How to Teach Kids to Spot Addition and Subtraction Clues

Word Problem Keywords Chart: How to Teach Kids to Spot Addition and Subtraction Clues

Your child can solve 8 + 5 in two seconds. Put the same numbers in a story and they freeze, or they add when they should subtract. Usually the arithmetic is fine. The trouble is reading the situation. A keyword chart helps with that, but only when it's taught the right way. This post gives you a chart you can use, three worked examples, and the one trap that catches almost every 7- and 8-year-old.

The Keyword Chart

Print this out or copy it onto an index card. Each row pairs a clue word with the kind of action it usually signals, plus a short example your child can check.

Clue wordsUsually meansSample sentenceNumber sentence
in all, altogether, total, sumAddition (putting groups together)Leo has 6 red cars and 7 blue cars. How many in all?6 + 7 = 13
more joined, came, bought, gotAddition (a group grows)There were 9 birds. 4 more came.9 + 4 = 13
left, remain, gave away, ate, lostSubtraction (a group shrinks)Ana had 15 grapes and ate 6. How many are left?15 − 6 = 9
how many more, how many fewer, differenceSubtraction (comparing two groups)Sam has 12 stickers, Mia has 8. How many more does Sam have?12 − 8 = 4
how many were there at first?Depends on the story, so check itSome kids were at the park. 5 went home. Now 11 are there.11 + 5 = 16

Look at the last row. "Went home" sounds like subtraction, but the answer comes from adding. That row is the reason a chart alone isn't enough.

Worked Example 1: A Straightforward Problem

"A baker made 24 muffins in the morning and 18 in the afternoon. How many muffins did she make altogether?"

  • Step 1: Circle the clue word: altogether.
  • Step 2: Ask, "Are two groups being put together?" Yes, morning muffins and afternoon muffins.
  • Step 3: Write 24 + 18 = 42.
  • Step 4: Sanity check: 42 is bigger than both 24 and 18. That makes sense for a combined total.

Step 4 is the habit that matters most. If your child got 6, the check shows straight away that they subtracted by mistake.

Worked Example 2: "How Many More" Comparisons

"Jin read 31 pages. Ella read 19 pages. How many more pages did Jin read?"

Many children see "more" and add: 31 + 19 = 50. Try this question instead: "If Ella read 50 pages, would she have read more than Jin?" Yes, so 50 can't be the gap. The question asks for the difference between the two numbers: 31 − 19 = 12. You can check it by counting up from 19: 19 + 10 = 29, 29 + 2 = 31, so the gap is 10 + 2 = 12.

Worked Example 3: The Keyword Trap

Here's the trap. A child we tutored, a second grader who was strong at mental math, got this problem wrong three times in a row:

"Tom has 7 more marbles than Kai. Tom has 20 marbles. How many marbles does Kai have?"

She saw "more" and wrote 20 + 7 = 27. Pointing at the chart didn't fix it. Drawing two bars did:

  • Tom's bar: 20 squares long.
  • Kai's bar: shorter, because Tom has 7 more.
  • Cover the 7 extra squares on Tom's bar, and what's left matches Kai: 20 − 7 = 13.

Check: 13 + 7 = 20. ✔ After about 5 problems like this with drawings, she began sketching the bars herself before she wrote any numbers.

A 4-Step Routine for Every Word Problem

  • 1. Read it twice. Read once for the story and once for the numbers.
  • 2. Circle the clue word, then ask what is happening. Are groups joining, separating, or being compared?
  • 3. Draw it. Dots work up to about 20. Use bars for bigger numbers like 31 and 19.
  • 4. Check the size of the answer. A total should be bigger than each part. Something "left" should be smaller than the starting amount.

Give it about 2 weeks of 3–4 problems a day. By then most kids do steps 2–4 in their heads for one-step problems.

Is a Paid Keyword Pack Worth It?

Teacher marketplaces sell keyword posters and task-card bundles, often for $3–$8. Reviews tend to praise how good they look, and the honest ones point out what a chart can't do: it can't handle trap problems like Example 3. You don't have to buy anything. The table above covers the core clue words. What actually builds the skill is practice with problems that mix addition and subtraction, so your child can't just guess one operation for the whole page. Pages with 10 addition problems in a row don't teach kids to choose.

If you want mixed practice without paying, MathSignal's free printable drills offer Korean-style worksheets in English. Print one page, have your child circle the clue word in each problem before solving it, and talk through any that don't fit the chart.

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