It’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day today, so here is a context clues worksheet on the verb tousle. It means “dishevel” and “rumple.” It’s only used transitively, so don’t forget your direct object. You, or someone or something else, must tousle something.
This is one of those words that yields a pair of definitional words that students, particularly English language learners, may not know. Since I just wrote this document this morning, I haven’t used it in a classroom (and may never, since this isn’t a high-frequency or essential academic word). But if I did, I would look for students to be able to articulate from context–which is relatively strong in this worksheet–a general sense of “wrinkle,” or “mess up,” or “tangle,” or something along those lines.
If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.
