Meaning to be at home, needing looking after (9)
I believe the answer is:
intending
'meaning' is the definition.
('intend' can be a synonym of 'mean')
'at home needing looking after' is the wordplay.
'at home' becomes 'in' ('I'm in' can mean 'I'm at home').
'needing' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'looking after' becomes 'tending' (tending is a kind of looking after).
'in'+'tending'='INTENDING'
'to be' is the link.
(Other definitions for intending that I've seen before include "Planning, proposing" , "Meaning; planning" .)