Making Inferences Worksheets | Worsheets library - Free Printable

Let’s go step by step to understand what the worksheet is asking and how to solve it.

The worksheet is about drawing conclusions and making inferences. That means:

- You read a story.
- You use clues from the story + things you already know (like how people act, or how the world works) to figure out something that isn’t directly said.
- Then you pick the answer that makes the *most sense* based on those clues.

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Now let’s look at the story: “The Greedy Man”

Here’s what happens:

1. A greedy man sells everything he owns → buys a brick of gold → buries it behind his shed.
2. Every day, he digs it up just to look at it → then puts it back.
3. One day, a workman sees him doing this → decides to follow him.
4. The next day, after the greedy man leaves, the workman digs up the hole → finds it empty! He cries: “My beautiful gold brick!”
5. A neighbor hears him → asks what happened.
6. The workman tells the truth: the neighbor took the gold.
7. The neighbor says: “Why be so sad? Just get a rock, put it in the hole, and pretend it’s gold. It will do you as much good as the gold did.”

Wait — hold on. Let’s reread that last part carefully.

Actually, the story says:

> “When the greedy man told him, the neighbor just shrugged his shoulders. ‘Why be so sad?’ said the neighbor. ‘Just go get a rock and put it in that hole, and pretend that it is gold. It will do you as much good as the gold did.’”

So — who is talking to whom?

Let’s trace the characters:

- Greedy man = buried gold, visited daily.
- Workman = saw greedy man, followed him, dug up the hole later, found it empty, cried out.
- Neighbor = came over when he heard the crying, asked what happened.
- Then: “When the greedy man told him...” → So now the *greedy man* is telling the *neighbor* what happened? But wait — the workman was the one who cried out and found the hole empty.

This seems confusing. Let’s re-read the paragraph:

> “After a while, a workman noticed the greedy man going across the road every day, and decided to follow him. The next day, the greedy man dug down for his gold brick, but the hole was empty. He pulled at his hair, and cried out in sorrow. ‘My beautiful gold brick!’ he wept.
> A neighbor came running, and asked the greedy man what had happened. When the greedy man told him, the neighbor just shrugged his shoulders. ‘Why be so sad?’ said the neighbor. ‘Just go get a rock and put it in that hole, and pretend that it is gold. It will do you as much good as the gold did.’”

Ah! Now I see — there’s a mistake in my first reading.

Actually, the workman followed the greedy man — but then the NEXT DAY, the *greedy man himself* went to dig up his gold… and found it gone!

So:

- Day 1: Workman sees greedy man digging → follows him → learns where the gold is.
- Day 2: Greedy man goes to check his gold → finds it stolen → cries.
- Neighbor comes → greedy man explains → neighbor says: “Just pretend a rock is gold — it’ll do you as much good.”

That makes more sense.

So the neighbor is saying: Since you never spent the gold, only looked at it — pretending a rock is gold gives you the same feeling. So why cry?

But here’s the key question the worksheet probably wants us to answer (even though no multiple choice is shown): What can we infer?

We are supposed to draw a conclusion or make an inference.

What does the neighbor mean by “It will do you as much good as the gold did”?

He means: The gold didn’t actually help anyone — it wasn’t used, shared, or spent. It just sat in the ground. So if you replace it with a rock and pretend, you still get the same useless satisfaction. Therefore, losing the real gold doesn’t really matter — because it wasn’t doing any real good anyway.

Also, we can infer: The neighbor is being sarcastic or wise — pointing out the foolishness of hoarding wealth without using it.

Another inference: The workman must have stolen the gold between Day 1 and Day 2 — since he followed the greedy man and knew where it was.

But the main point of the story is about greed and the uselessness of hiding wealth.

Since the worksheet says “think about what the story means by thinking about what makes the most sense,” the best conclusion is:

→ The neighbor is suggesting that the gold was worthless to the greedy man because he never used it — so replacing it with a rock won’t change anything.

OR

→ Hoarding money without using it is pointless — whether it’s real gold or a fake rock.

But since the user hasn’t provided specific questions or multiple choices, and the worksheet is labeled “Practice” with no visible questions below the story, perhaps the intended task is to write a conclusion or inference.

However, looking again at the top of the page:

> Drawing conclusions means figuring something out for yourself. To draw conclusions, you need to think about what makes the most sense.

And then the story is given.

In many such worksheets, after the story, there are questions like:

- What can you conclude about the greedy man?
- What does the neighbor mean by his comment?
- Who stole the gold? (inference)
- Why did the neighbor say that?

Since none are listed, but the instruction says “Solve the problem accurately,” and the only “problem” presented is the story + definitions, perhaps the expected output is to state the main inference or conclusion.

Given that, and following the rules strictly, I should provide a final answer that captures the core lesson or inference.

Let me verify:

Step-by-step reasoning:

1. Greedy man hides gold, visits it daily — never uses it.
2. Gold gets stolen (likely by workman who followed him).
3. Neighbor says: Replace it with a rock — it’ll do you as much good.
4. Why? Because the gold wasn’t helping anyone — not even the owner — except giving him false comfort.
5. So the neighbor is making a point: Unused wealth is as valuable as a rock — neither helps anyone.

Therefore, the main conclusion/inference is:

Hoarding wealth without using it is meaningless — whether it’s real gold or a pretend rock.

Or, more simply for a student:

If you don’t use your money or treasure, it’s no better than a rock — so don’t cry if it’s gone.

But since the worksheet might expect a specific format, and no options are given, I’ll go with the clearest inference.

Final Answer:
The neighbor means that since the greedy man never used the gold, replacing it with a rock would give him the same useless satisfaction — showing that hoarding wealth without using it is pointless.