Multiplication Chart

How to use the Multiplication Chart

1. Type a name in Title on the sheet. The default is Multiplication Chart.
2. Pick a Chart size: 10 × 10, 12 × 12 (the default), 15 × 15 or 20 × 20.
3. Pick a Style. Filled chart gives a complete reference. Blank chart (headers only) keeps just the numbers along the top and down the side. Fill in the missing products blanks out squares for practice.
4. If you chose Fill in the missing products, pick How many squares are blank: about a quarter, about half (the default) or about three quarters.
5. Tick Shade the square numbers (1 × 1, 2 × 2 …) if you want them shaded. It is off by default.
6. Choose Shading: Light grey (printer-friendly), the default, or Light color.
7. Leave Include answer key ticked to add the key, or untick it.
8. Set the paper size to US Letter or A4.
9. Press Print or save as PDF. You can also use your browser’s print dialog to save a PDF.

Press New worksheet to make a different sheet with the same settings. Each sheet has a short worksheet code under the buttons. Reset settings returns everything to the defaults. The page address stores your settings, so a bookmarked or shared link opens the same sheet again.

Press New worksheet for a different set of blank squares.

Why does each product appear twice on a multiplication chart?

Multiplication works in either order: 3 × 7 and 7 × 3 both give 21. The chart therefore mirrors itself across the diagonal running from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner. Every product above that line has a twin below it, which cuts the number of facts to learn nearly in half.

What patterns can you see on a multiplication chart?

The 10s column ends in zero all the way down. The 5s column alternates between numbers ending in 5 and numbers ending in 0. In the 9s column for the first ten rows, the tens digit goes up by one while the ones digit goes down by one (9, 18, 27, 36 …), and the two digits always add to 9.

Even numbers follow a simple rule too. Any row or column for an even number is all even. A product is odd only where an odd row meets an odd column.

How can doubling help me read a multiplication chart?

Each square in the 4s row is double the matching square in the 2s row, and the 8s row is double the 4s row. If a child knows 4 × 7 = 28, they can find 8 × 7 by doubling it to get 56. This links the harder facts to the easier ones.

Why are the square numbers shaded on a multiplication chart?

Square numbers such as 1, 4, 9, 16 and 25 sit on the diagonal, where a number meets itself. They grow by odd numbers: 1, 4, 9, 16, 25 go up by 3, 5, 7 and 9. Shading them makes the diagonal easy to spot, and it shows the line the chart is mirrored across: fold a filled chart along it and the two halves match.

How do I use a blank multiplication chart for practice?

Call out a product such as 24 and have children find every square that holds it. On a 12 × 12 chart there are six: 2 × 12, 3 × 8, 4 × 6 and their reverses. This builds factor pairs and supports division facts, since reading a row in reverse gives a division fact.

A blank chart also works as a timed challenge. Time how long it takes to complete it, then try again a week later. Children compete with their own earlier time, and the completed chart becomes a record of progress.

What size of multiplication chart suits each grade?

• 2nd grade: 10 × 10 filled. Use it as a reference for skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s, and for seeing rows as repeated addition.
• 3rd grade: 10 × 10 filled while learning facts, then 10 × 10 with about a quarter of the squares blank, moving up to about half (3.OA.C.7).
• 4th grade: 12 × 12 with about three quarters blank, or the blank chart as a whole-chart review. Use the filled chart to find factor pairs (4.OA.B.4).
• 5th grade: 15 × 15 or 20 × 20 filled with square numbers shaded, for patterns, square numbers and checking long multiplication.