Word Riddles

This order of operations worksheet challenges students to translate short, engaging riddles into mathematical expressions and evaluate them using PEMDAS. Learners carefully read each riddle, extract key numerical information, construct the correct expression, and compute accurate solutions, blending creativity with structured mathematical reasoning.

Instructional Objectives

• Skill Focus (Grades 5-7): Translate word-based riddles into multi-step numerical expressions and evaluate them using the correct order of operations.
• Conceptual Understanding (Grades 5-7): Recognize how verbal clues map to mathematical operations and sequencing within an expression.
• Algebraic Reasoning (Grades 6-7): Construct and evaluate expressions that require careful interpretation of grouping, multiplication, and addition or subtraction.
• Curriculum Alignment (Grades 5-7): Supports translating words to expressions, multi-step numerical reasoning, order of operations mastery, and real-world application standards.

Each riddle requires students to move from language to symbols, reinforcing close reading and logical interpretation alongside computation. This approach deepens understanding of how numerical relationships are represented mathematically and why operation order matters.

Learning Benefits

• Combines creativity with rigorous mathematical reasoning
• Strengthens translation from words to symbolic expressions
• Reinforces multi-step PEMDAS fluency in an engaging format
• Effective for enrichment, centers, early finishers, or review

This printable worksheet offers a fun yet challenging way for students to practice order of operations, helping them build confidence and flexibility as they turn word riddles into accurate mathematical expressions.

This worksheet is part of our 2-Step Order of Operations Worksheets collection.