Elapsed Time Worksheets
Free printable elapsed time worksheets. Two clocks per problem - work out how much time passed between them - with an answer key in words.
Each problem shows a start time and an end time, and the student works out how long passed between them. The times are drawn on the sheet's five-minute interval, and so is the answer, so a five-minute reading is never paired with an answer of "1 hour 37 minutes".
Every problem stays inside one twelve-hour stretch, so nothing crosses noon and no answer needs AM or PM - those are separate skills. The answer key writes the duration in words ("1 hour 20 minutes"), not as 1:20, because a time-looking answer is the classic mistake this exercise exists to correct.
Use Show the times as to switch between two clock faces, two digital times, or one of each. One of each is the hardest and the most like a real wall clock read against a timetable.
What this worksheet covers
- Work out how much time passed between two clocks
- Count on in hours and minutes from a start time
Common Core standards
- 3.MD.A.1 Tell time to the nearest minute and solve problems about time intervals in minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What grade is elapsed time?
Second and third grade. It builds directly on telling time to five minutes and to the minute.
Why is the answer in words and not like 1:20?
Writing it as 1:20 makes it look like a clock reading, and a lot of students then think the two are the same thing. "1 hour 20 minutes" keeps a duration and a time of day clearly apart.
Do any problems cross over noon or midnight?
Not by default. Every problem sits inside one twelve-hour stretch, because reading across noon needs AM and PM, which is a separate skill. Turn on Cross noon when the class is ready, or use the elapsed time crossing noon page, which opens with it on.
Can I make the problems easier or harder?
Set Times To The to a coarser interval - quarter hour or half hour - for an easier sheet, or to the minute for a harder one. The start, the end and the duration all move to that interval together.