Reading and Comparing Decimals Worksheets, Grade 5 (5.NBT.A.3) – Free PDF + Answer Key

First page of the reading and comparing decimals practice worksheet

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PDFs print on US Letter paper. Free for classroom and home use.

Watch: How to Write Decimals in Word Form (Place Value, Expanded Form & Rounding)

Key idea

Each digit names a place. Compare the leftmost differing place, or count both in the same-sized pieces. Zeros after the digits change nothing; zeros before them move everything.

Sample problems

Write <, > or = : 0.6 __ 0.59
Write <, > or = : 0.125 __ 0.2
Write <, > or = : 0.70 __ 0.7
Write in figures: three hundred six thousandths.

Common mistakes to watch for

Answered >, <, < throughout — every one decided by the length of the tail. All three are wrong, and consistently so, which is more informative than a mixed set: the child has one rule, applied faithfully.
Ordered by length: 0.4, 0.09, 0.35, 0.125. This sheet's numbers are chosen so that length and size disagree as often as possible — the longest is nearly the smallest.
Said “because you compare the tenths first” without saying why. That is the correct method stated as a rule, and it leaves Nia's actual belief — that the tail is a number — untouched, so it will return on the next pair.

The answer key explains each one, so you can tell what a wrong answer means.

How to use this set

Teach with the slides (about 15 minutes), or watch the video together.
Practice with the worksheet. Questions climb from fluency to application to reasoning.
Check understanding with the exit ticket.
Mark with the answer key — each answer shows the steps and the most likely mistake.