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Three Words for Hard Times is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on inflation, deflation and unemployment, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Eco.11.3-5. It prints 3 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 20 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Three Words for Hard Times

D2.Eco.11.3-5

NameDate

Sort each one into the right word.

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.11.3-5 · Set 20 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Three Words for Hard Times

Set 20. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Hands paid off for refusing the new rate — Unemployment 2. Prices climb month after month — Inflation 3. Shippers cut freight rates year on year — Deflation
  2. 2.1. An upland labourer with no farm to work on — Unemployment 2. Prices fall while debts stay the same — Deflation 3. The same wage buys less bread — Inflation
  3. 3.1. A weaver with a loom and no orders — Unemployment 2. Cotton costs more this year than last — Inflation 3. The same coin buys more coal than before — Deflation

More practice for D2.Eco.11.3-5

Explain what inflation, deflation and unemployment mean.

Teaching this next? Three Words for Hard Times is the 50-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Eco.11.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.