Why is there a gray oval on my homescreen

Ponderaquestion,

There isn't an option to remove to hide the dock, as it's used as a part of multitasking on your iPad. Use multitasking on your iPad - Apple Support

"How to use the Dock to open multiple iPad apps

1. Open an app.
2. Slide one finger up from the bottom edge of the screen until the Dock appears, then release.
3. Touch and hold a second app in the Dock, then immediately drag it up out of the Dock.

• If you drag the app to the left or right edge of the screen, it appears in Split View with the current app.
• If you let go of the app in the middle of the screen, it appears in a Slide Over window."

However, you can turn off showing suggested and recent apps in the dock. Navigate to Settings > Home Screen & Multitasking and look under the section Dock to view details. Switch between apps on iPad

Feel free to also leave feature feedback here: Feedback - iPad - Apple

Cheers.

Greetings Ponderaquestion, 

It looks like this is the Dock on your iPad, though it is empty. Did it previously have apps in it or had you not been using the Dock? The following article from the iPadOS User Guide goes over how to move apps around on the Home Screen and also that you can drag an app to the Dock at the bottom. Typically you’d keep there the apps you reach for the most frequently. Move apps and widgets on the Home Screen on iPad

Move apps and widgets around on your iPad

1. Touch and hold any app or widget on the Home Screen, then tap Edit Home Screen.

The items begin to jiggle.

2. Drag the app or widget to one of the following locations:

• Another location on the same page

• Another Home Screen page

Drag the app to the right edge of the screen. You might need to wait a second for the new page to appear. The dots above the Dock show how many pages you have and which one you’re viewing.

• Tip: You can also drag an app to the Dock at the bottom of the screen.

3. When you’re finished, tap Done at the top right.

Thanks. 

The iPad Dock is a fundamental element of the iPad Touch User Interface (UI).

While you may be able to drag all Apps out of Dock onto your Hone Pages, the Dock itself cannot be disabled - or hidden from view on the Home Screen(s).