The purposes of this study were to explore reading comprehension abilities, reading difficulties, error patterns in addition and subtraction word problems of hearing impaired pupils. Performance differences between students at middle grades and upper grades were also analyzed. Reading comprehension in addition and subtraction word problems test developed by authors was used as research instrument. It included 35 sentences/phrases (11 for change, 4 for combine, 14 for compare and 6 for equalize); each one was followed by 4-6 sets of pictures. Eighty -three students only with hearing impairments were participants in this study. The main findings were: 1. the hearing-impaired students demonstrated poor and slowly developed reading comprehension abilities in addition and subtraction word problems. 2. There were 34 difficulty sentences/phrases among 35 test sentences/phrases for middle grades students, and 29 sentences/phrases for upper grades students. The only one sentence that was not challenge for all students was: the quantity is the same as A and B. 3. Students' performance varied with sentences' semantics. 4. Systematic errors were found in students' performance, and students at upper grades demonstrated more of this error pattern than that of students at middle grades.