Illustration of a hiker taking a picture on phone of a mountain goat
Illustrations by Lance Lekander

One Word, 3 Ways / Root Power!

Weird, Wild, and Wonderful Words

From the October/November 2022 Issue

Story Navigation

One Word, 3 Ways

Look how this adventurous kid uses the word of the issue, range

Range can mean:

  • a series of mountains or hills in a line,
  • the area where an animal or a plant naturally lives, or
  • to roam.

Illustration by Lance Lekander

  • It’s such a thrill to be hiking in this mountain range.
  • Check out this mountain goat! Its range extends from here into Canada.
  • I’d like to send this picture to my friends, but I’ve ranged into an area with no cell phone service.


Range has many other meanings too! Can you think of some?

Root Power!

Meet Lexie! She time traveled from the ancient world and landed in Storyworks. Lexie loves words—especially ones with Greek and Latin roots. Today, she’s using words with the Greek root chron. That means time. Can you figure out the meaning of the orange words below?

Root Power!

Illustration by Lance Lekander

Lexie: Helena told me she would meet me at the carnival at 3:00, but according to my chronometer, she’s already 15 minutes late.

Lexie: I should have expected it. Helena is chronically late.

Helena: Here I am, Lexie! Sorry, I got caught up reading the book you gave me.

Lexie: Oh, the chronicle of ancient Greek history? What a story, told over hundreds of years!

This article was originally published in the October/November 2022 issue.

Activities (3)
Answer Key (1)
Learn more wild words, including idioms and multiple-meaning words, in our special Vocab Lab collection.
Activities (3) Download All Activities
Answer Key (1)
Text-to-Speech