Smart Starters · Ages 8 to 10
Multiples and Common Multiples Match
Match number pairs to their shared multiples. Five levels with answer keys.
The learning journey
Every activity is one step. Here is where this one fits.
- PlayLearn the idea in a game
- Practise(you are here)Lock it in on paper
- ReviewCome back and keep it sharp
- MasterTake on a harder challenge
- AchieveEarn a certificate
About Multiples and Common Multiples Match
Two numbers eventually land on the same value if you keep counting in both, and the first place they meet is their lowest common multiple. Finding it is a genuinely useful skill — it is what makes adding fractions with different denominators possible a year later — and it is best learned by counting rather than by rule at this age. Each row on this worksheet names a pair of numbers and asks for the first multiple they share, with the answers shuffled so a child cannot work down the page by position. Pairs where one number divides the other are excluded: their common multiple is just the larger number, so the question asks nothing. Every answer on a page is different, which the matching requires — two rows sharing a target would leave both unanswerable. The numbers grow across the five levels, which makes the counting longer and the shared multiple less obvious, so a child who has been listing multiples starts to look for a quicker route. Each level prints as a clean A4 sheet in black and white and downloads with its own separate answer key. No common-multiples game exists in the catalogue, so this is a fluency extension rather than a game twin.
Common questions
- What is a common multiple?
- A number both values land on if you keep counting in each. The first one they share is the lowest common multiple.
- Why does this matter later?
- It is what makes adding fractions with different denominators possible.
- Are pairs like 3 and 6 included?
- No. When one number divides the other the answer is just the larger one, so the question asks nothing.
- Is an answer key included?
- Yes. Every level downloads with a key giving the correct letter for each row.
A hand for grown-ups
- Before you start
- Think of it as groups: "4 × 3" is four groups of three. Have something you can arrange into equal groups.
- While they work
- Skip-counting (3, 6, 9, 12…) is a solid way in before facts are memorised. Let them use it — speed comes later.
- Afterwards
- Spot arrays in real life together — eggs in a box, tiles on a floor. Rows-and-columns is multiplication you can see.
- Watch out for
- Treating it as harder addition and losing track. Grouping objects physically keeps the "equal groups" idea in view.
- Away from the screen
- Lay out objects in rows and columns and count them two ways. Cooking with doubled recipes is multiplication too.
Where to go next
Chosen by the skills this activity practises.