House word search

Take a tour from the basement to the attic. The list walks through the rooms of a home, the furniture inside them (sofa, armchair, dresser, bookcase) and the everyday things that keep a household running, like the vacuum, the broom and the laundry. Outside, there are the porch, the yard, the driveway and the mailbox.

Some of these words have come a long way. Window comes from an Old Norse word meaning "wind eye," a hole in the wall that let in air and light. Attic goes back to Attica, the region around ancient Athens, through a style of building with a low top story. Curtain and furniture both reached English from French.

For young children, the house theme is a chance to name what they see every day; try the puzzle, then go on a hunt around your own home for the words you found. English teachers can use the list for prepositions too: the lamp is on the table, the rug is under the bed.

Play tip: four rooms end in ROOM: BEDROOM, BATHROOM, LIVING ROOM and DINING ROOM. The double O makes ROOM easy to spot, so once you find it, read back from the R to see which room it belongs to. On hard and expert, remember that the whole word may run backwards.