There are problems of complex implementation and low reliability in the existing fault location methods of a distribution network. Thus a fault location method based on multi-terminal traveling wave time difference is proposed. First, by analyzing the transmission characteristics of a fault traveling wave, a fault state expression of the distribution network is proposed. The theoretical value of the fault distance is calculated. The fault search and auxiliary matrices are built, and the change characteristics and numerical status of the matrix elements are analyzed to locate the fault line. Then the actual fault distance is calculated according to the three-terminal traveling wave method, and the influence of traveling wave velocity is eliminated. Finally, the distribution network fault model is established in Matlab/Simulink to verify the effectiveness of the location method under different fault types and transition resistances. The simulation results show that the location method has good reliability and high accuracy. This work is supported by Hebei Provincial-level Science and Technology Program (No. 20314301D).