Mud Clues

This worksheet is designed for students in Grades 2-4 to build reading comprehension, inferencing, and evidence-based reasoning through a short mystery-style passage. Students read about Alex coming inside covered in mud and act as “reading detectives” by using context clues, logical thinking, and textual evidence to infer what happened before the story begins.

Skills Reinforced

• Making Inferences (Grades 2-4) – Use context clues to draw logical conclusions about unstated events.
• Reading Comprehension – Understand details and implied information within a short narrative text.
• Textual Evidence – Support answers with clues and details taken directly from the passage.
• Critical & Creative Thinking – Explain reasoning clearly while imagining possible explanations grounded in the text.

Instructional Support

• Teacher-Created Resource – Developed by educators to support elementary ELA standards.
• Engaging Detective Theme – Motivates students to read closely and think analytically.
• Short-Answer Practice – Encourages complete sentences and thoughtful explanations.
• Flexible Use – Ideal for literacy centers, guided reading groups, independent work, or homework.

This printable inference worksheet helps students learn how to read between the lines and justify their thinking using textual evidence. By combining comprehension questions with logical reasoning, learners strengthen inference skills, attention to detail, and written expression. Suitable for both classroom and homeschool settings, this no-prep activity supports confident reading, analytical thinking, and creative problem-solving in an engaging, age-appropriate format.

This worksheet is part of our Grade 2 Reading Comprehension collection.