The Missing Key

This worksheet is designed for students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 to strengthen reading comprehension, inference, and vocabulary analysis through an engaging mystery narrative. Students read a short story in which clues hinge on words with multiple meanings, then answer comprehension questions that require them to interpret each meaning and explain how wordplay influences the plot. By analyzing how vocabulary choices affect understanding of events and clues, learners develop flexible thinking and deeper text-analysis skills.

Academic Focus

• Narrative Reading Comprehension (Grades 4-6) – Understand plot, clues, and key events in a mystery story.
• Interpreting Multiple-Meaning Words – Identify and explain how the same word can carry different meanings in context.
• Critical Thinking & Inference – Use textual evidence to solve meaning-based clues and explain reasoning.
• Plot & Vocabulary Interaction – Analyze how word choice contributes to mystery, ambiguity, and problem solving.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to integrate vocabulary and comprehension instruction.
• High-Engagement Mystery Format – Motivates students through problem solving and curiosity.
• Context-Driven Vocabulary Practice – Reinforces meaning through authentic narrative use rather than isolated drills.
• Explanation-Based Questions – Requires students to justify answers using evidence from the text.
• Flexible Use – Ideal for literacy centers, small groups, independent practice, or comprehension assessment.
• No-Prep Format – Print-and-go worksheet for classroom or homeschool use.

This printable worksheet helps students see how authors intentionally use multiple-meaning words to shape plot, create puzzles, and guide readers toward solutions. By examining vocabulary in a mystery context, learners strengthen inference, comprehension, and analytical thinking skills essential for navigating complex texts. Whether used in a classroom or homeschool environment, this resource supports deep reading, vocabulary flexibility, and thoughtful interpretation of narrative language.

This worksheet is part of our Multiple Meaning Words Worksheets collection.