GED Math Word Problems: 15 Solved Step by Step (+25 to Practice)

Most GED word problems hide a small piece of math, like a percent or one multiplication, inside a story about a phone plan, a paycheck or a room that needs carpet. GED Testing Service builds the test around real-world problems like these.

The catch? The story is the hard part. Pull out the wrong number, or read “less than” backward, and the math can’t save you.

The good news: unwrapping the story takes the same six moves every time. In this guide you’ll get:

• A six-step method that works on any word problem
• A words-to-math table that turns phrases like “less than” into symbols
• 15 solved examples, from discounts to probability, with every step shown
• The 5 traps behind most wrong answers, and how to spot them
• 25 practice questions (scroll up) that check your answers as you go

If word problems have made your stomach drop since school, you’re not alone. Nobody is born good at these. It’s a routine, and routines can be learned.

How to solve any GED word problem in six steps

Think of this like a recipe card. The first few times, you follow it line by line and it feels slow. After a week or so, you stop looking at the card.

That’s what you want 90 minutes into the test, when you’re tired: a routine that runs on its own. So use it on every problem, even the easy ones.

1. Read the question sentence first: The last line usually says what you’re finding (“How much will she pay in total?”). Read that, then read the whole problem with that goal in mind.
2. Name the unknown: Write it in words and give it a letter, like “a = number of adult tickets”. That one line keeps you from solving for the wrong thing.
3. Translate, one phrase at a time: Use the table below to turn words into symbols. Cross out numbers you don’t need, because some problems throw in extra details.
4. Pick the operation and solve: Ask what the story is doing: putting things together, comparing, sharing out or scaling up. Then work it out by hand or on the TI-30XS.
5. Estimate: Round the numbers and get a rough answer. If you expected about $60 and got $600, something slipped.
6. Check the units and the sense: Is it in dollars, feet or hours? Does it answer the question from step 1? A negative number of tickets, or a probability above 1, means go back.

Words to math: a translation table

Word problems use the same few words over and over. It’s like road signs: once you know them, you read them without thinking.

Learn these and you can turn most sentences into math, one piece at a time.

15 GED math word problems with answers

Work each problem on paper, type your answer, then tap “Check my answer”. A wrong answer turns red, the right one turns green, and the working opens. Getting stuck first, then seeing the fix, is what makes a method stick.

The tag on each one says whether the numbers are friendly enough to do by hand. Those are good practice for the no-calculator part. GED Testing Service doesn’t say which topics go in that part, so the tag is only our guide.

We wrote all 15 problems ourselves and checked every answer by calculation.

GED percent word problems

Discounts, sales tax, a rent increase and interest. Percents turn up all over the test because they turn up all over real life.

GED fraction, ratio and proportion word problems

Recipes, map scales and which jar of peanut butter is the better deal. Each one is about keeping two amounts in step, like cups of oil and muffins.

GED linear equation word problems

Here you write an equation from the story, then solve it. Both problems start with step 2 of the method: give the unknown a letter.

GED inequality word problems

Look for “at most”, “at least” or “no more than”. Think of a budget, or an age limit on a ride. The answer is often a whole number (you can’t buy part of a pizza), so you decide which way to round.

GED geometry word problems

The formula sheet hands you the formulas. Your job is to spot the shape in the story (a floor, a tank, a ladder) and keep the units straight.

GED data and probability word problems

Working out the score you need to hit an average, and the chance of pulling two of the same color out of a bag without looking.

The 5 traps that cost the most points

Each solved problem above pointed out a trap answer. Those traps fall into five groups. Learning the groups is quicker than memorizing problems.

Trap 1: mixing units

Square feet and square yards. Minutes and hours. Inches on a map and miles on the road.

Mixing them is like measuring a room half in feet and half in inches. Every number looks fine, and the answer is still wrong. Convert first, and write the unit next to every number (problems 6 and 11).

Trap 2: “less than” in the wrong order

“Ten less than twice a number” is 2x − 10. You start with twice the number, then take ten away. “Subtracted from” works the same way.

Trap 3: a percent of the wrong number

Percent change always divides by where you started. When rent goes from $1,250 to $1,400, the $150 rise is compared with the old $1,250 (problem 3).

A second discount follows the same idea. It comes off the price that’s already been cut. That’s why 25% off and then 10% off saves you less than 35% off would (problem 1).

Trap 4: rounding too early

Round 2/3 to 0.67, multiply by 450, and you get 301.5. The exact answer is 300. Keep the full number in the calculator and round once, at the very end.

Trap 5: answering a different question

You find the interest when it asked for the total in the account (problem 4). Or you find the student tickets when it asked for the adults (problem 9). Before you pick, reread the question sentence from step 1.

Bottom line: on multiple choice, the wrong options are often the exact numbers these traps produce. So finding your number in the list doesn’t prove it’s right. Do step 6 of the method even when you feel sure.

How to get better at GED word problems

Word problems get easier the way driving does: a little at a time, with a check on each mistake. Start with the 25 practice questions at the top of this page. Then pick the set below that matches the type you find hardest:

1. Do five a day, written out: Use all six steps, including the estimate. Speed comes once your setup is steady.
2. Keep a trap log: Each time you miss one, write down which of the five traps caught you. After two weeks you’ll know your own pattern, and which trap to watch for.
3. Put the calculator away sometimes: Work the “doable by hand” problems without one, because the test opens with a few questions and no calculator.

Bottom line: once the setup feels steady, move to the full practice test, where word problems are mixed in with everything else and the clock is running.