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What a Rate Actually Measures is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on what an interest rate is, aligned to Common Core standard D2.Eco.10.3-5. It prints 8 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 15 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.

What a Rate Actually Measures

D2.Eco.10.3-5

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.The relief fund is kept in a savings bank and grows. What is the growth?
  • A.A subscription
  • B.Interest paid to the union for lending the bank its money
  • C.A gift
2.Why is a loan to a failing weaver charged more than one to a mill?
  • A.He is less likely to repay, so the lender charges for the risk
  • B.Mills are larger
  • C.Weavers are disliked
3.A mill borrows 5,000 pounds and repays 5,300. What is the 300?
  • A.A tax
  • B.Interest: the price of borrowing the 5,000
  • C.A fine
4.What does an interest rate measure?
  • A.How rich the lender is
  • B.How long the loan lasts
  • C.The cost of borrowing as a share of what was borrowed
5.Why does a lender charge anything at all?
  • A.To discourage borrowing
  • B.The money could have been earning elsewhere while it was lent
  • C.Because coins wear
6.Rates rise from 3 to 7 in the hundred. What happens to new mills?
  • A.Fewer are built, because borrowing to build costs more
  • B.Nothing changes
  • C.More are built
7.The harbour board borrows for a new light. What must it plan?
  • A.Never repaying
  • B.Dues high enough to repay the loan and its interest
  • C.Charging nothing
8.A family borrows the four pound fare at high interest. What is the risk?
  • A.Fares fall
  • B.The ship sinks
  • C.If no work is found abroad, the debt and its interest remain

LessonPrint · D2.Eco.10.3-5 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — What a Rate Actually Measures

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Interest paid to the union for lending the bank its money
  2. 2.He is less likely to repay, so the lender charges for the risk
  3. 3.Interest: the price of borrowing the 5,000
  4. 4.The cost of borrowing as a share of what was borrowed
  5. 5.The money could have been earning elsewhere while it was lent
  6. 6.Fewer are built, because borrowing to build costs more
  7. 7.Dues high enough to repay the loan and its interest
  8. 8.If no work is found abroad, the debt and its interest remain

More practice for D2.Eco.10.3-5

Explain what an interest rate is.

Teaching this next? What a Rate Actually Measures 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.10.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.