Brain Teasers Part 2 – Hidden Meaning Puzzles
- Grades
- Grades 4–9, Elementary, Middle School, High School
- Pages
- 8
- File type
- Answer key
- Included
- Subject
- ELA, Language Development, Vocabulary
- Topic
- idioms, expressions
- Resource types
- Worksheets & Printables, Worksheets
- Answer key
- Included
- Standards
- CCSS.L.4.5 CCSS.L.5.5
About this resource
What's inside this resource
Idioms are hidden in 30 word-picture boxes grouped into three themes: Animals and Nature, Time, Weather and Money, and Body and Feelings. Students study where the words, letters and pictures sit in each box, then write the saying it stands for, starting from a worked example that models a three-step method. Three Idioms in Action pages follow, where students match idioms to short stories, decide whether sentences are literal or figurative, rewrite idioms in plain words, use one in a sentence about their own life and create one box for a classmate to crack.
Two answer-key pages give every idiom with a one-line meaning and a note on how its box works, plus three teaching tips. Designed for grades 4–8 and available as full color and print-friendly black and white PDF files.
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In the classroom
Teaching tips & learning objectives
Learning objectives
Decode word-picture puzzles by noticing position, size, direction, repetition and missing parts
Explain the figurative meaning of common English idioms
Distinguish literal from figurative uses of the same words
Teaching tips
Model the three steps in How the Puzzles Work with the worked example before students start the Animals and Nature boxes.
Before Which Idiom Fits?, read one story aloud and ask the class which puzzle answer means the same thing.
Compare the paired sentences in Literal or Figurative? to show how the same words can carry a literal and a hidden meaning.
Skills covered
Figurative language: students connect each idiom to its everyday meaning and tell literal sentences from figurative ones.
Lateral thinking: students read where words sit, how big they are and what is missing to solve each box.
Context clues: students choose the idiom that fits a short story about a familiar situation.
Good to know
Questions teachers ask about this resource
How are the 30 idiom puzzles organized?
They are grouped by theme: six animals and nature idioms on page 1 after the worked example, twelve time, weather and money idioms on page 2, and twelve body and feelings idioms on page 3.
Do students need to know the idioms already?
Most answers are everyday sayings that middle-grade students have heard. Each idiom also comes with a one-line plain meaning on the solution pages, so students can learn any they did not know.
What do the Idioms in Action pages add to the puzzles?
They move students from solving to using: matching idioms to stories, sorting literal and figurative sentences, rewriting idioms plainly, writing personal sentences and building a puzzle for a partner.
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Curriculum
Standards, concepts & topics
Standards
Standards
- CCSS.L.4.5 — Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. a. Explain the meaning of simple similes and metaphors (e.g., as pretty as a picture) in context. b. Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs. c. Demonstrate understanding of words by relating them to their opposites (antonyms) and to words with similar but not identical meanings (synonyms).
- CCSS.L.5.5 — Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. a. Interpret figurative language, including similes and metaphors, in context. b. Recognize and explain the meaning of common idioms, adages, and proverbs. c. Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words.
Core concepts
Core concepts
idioms
figurative language
literal meaning
rebus puzzles
context clues
Topics
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