"Free Grade 2 telling time worksheet — practice reading analog clocks and drawing clock hands.
Two-part activity with 16 clock exercises perfect for early learners. Printable PDF, teacher and homeschool friendly."
Telling Time Practice — Read the Clock
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Try these before or after you print the worksheet. The short hand gives the hour and the long hand gives the minutes. Watch the short hand carefully: it moves a little further round as the minutes pass, so at a quarter to the hour it is almost at the next number.
Question 1
What time does this clock show?
9:45. The short hand is nearly at 10, which makes this one tricky — but it has not reached 10 yet, so the hour is still 9. The long hand is at the 9, and nine lots of five minutes is 45.
Question 2
What time does this clock show?
12:15. The long hand points at the 3, and 3 × 5 = 15 minutes. The 3 means fifteen minutes, not three o'clock — reading the long hand as the hour is the commonest slip there is.
Question 3 — pick the clock
Which clock shows 3:30?
3:30. Half past means the long hand points straight down at the 6, and the short hand sits halfway between 3 and 4 — not still on the 3. The clock showing the short hand exactly on the 3 is 3 o'clock.
Question 4
What time does this clock show?
5:15. Short hand just past 5, long hand on the 3. A quarter past the hour always has the long hand on the 3, because a quarter of the way round the clock is 15 minutes.
Question 5 — put them in order
These are all morning times. Click them in order, from earliest to latest.
6:00 → 7:00 → 9:45 → 11:00. Compare the hours first; you only need the minutes when two times share an hour.
Question 6 — select all that apply
Select every time where the long hand points at the 3, then press Check.
12:15, 10:15 and 5:15. The long hand is at the 3 for any time that is quarter past, whatever the hour. At 3:30 it points at the 6, and at 6:00 and 11:00 it points straight up at the 12.
Question 7 — spot the mistake
A student looks at a clock where the short hand is between 9 and 10 and the long hand is on the 9. They say it is 10:45. What went wrong?
The short hand only counts the hour it has passed. Between 9 and 10 the hour is still 9, however close to 10 it looks. It becomes 10 o'clock the moment the short hand arrives at the 10.
Think about it
The long hand points at the 3 but the time is fifteen minutes past. Why does the 3 mean 15?
At half past three the short hand is halfway between 3 and 4. Where is it at quarter past three?
How many minutes does the long hand take to go all the way round once? How far does the short hand move in that time?
Could a clock ever show both hands pointing in exactly the same direction? When?