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Common Core ELAKindergartenLanguage

L.K.4: Figure Out New and Multiple-Meaning Words

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.4 · Cluster: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use.

Make a Vocabulary SheetAll 41 Kindergarten ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and content.

Common Core State Standards, Kindergarten, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.K.4 Means in Plain English

Kindergartners learn that a word they know can mean something new, like the bark on a tree beside a dog’s bark, and they use small word parts as clues. Told the box was unpacked, they work out that un- undoes the packing and -ed means it already happened.

All of it happens with words from read-alouds and class topics, worked out with the teacher in conversation rather than with a dictionary. In 1st grade (L.1.4) students add the rest of the sentence as a clue and find root words like look in looks, looked and looking.

L.K.4 I Can Statements

  • I can tell when a word I know means something new.
  • I can use the picture and the other words as clues.
  • I know un- can mean not, like in unhappy.

L.K.4 Worked Example

A word every kindergartner already knows, used in a way they have not met yet, and two ways to answer.

Prompt

We read: “Owl sat on the branch and picked at the rough bark.” What does bark mean in this sentence?

Not Yet“Bark is what a dog does. Woof!”The child knows bark, but only the meaning they came in with, and never checks it against the branch and the word rough right beside it.
Meets the Standard“Not the dog bark. It’s the tree bark, the bumpy outside of the tree. It says rough, and trees are rough.”The child starts from the familiar meaning, notices it does not fit, and uses branch and rough to land on the new one. That is part a: a new meaning for a familiar word, applied accurately.
Moves to Use
Say the meaning you already know.Ask: does that meaning make sense here?Look at the picture and the words around it for clues.Check the beginning and the end: un- can mean not, and -ed means it already happened.

Common Mistakes with L.K.4

Sticking with the first meaning

“The dog was in the tree?” after “picked at the rough bark”

Try this: Keep a two-meaning word wall with a picture for each meaning, and add a card every time a familiar word surprises the class.

Missing the word part

Hears “Unpack your bag” and starts packing

Try this: Act out the base word first, then the word with un- or re-, and have students say what the beginning changed.

Defining a word with itself

“Unhappy means unhappy.”

Try this: Ask students to show it before they say it, “Show me happy. Now show me not happy,” then name the second face unhappy.

Where L.K.4 Fits

Comes BeforeRL.K.4Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a story, where most of these words first turn up.
AlongsideRI.K.4Ask and answer questions about unknown words in an informational book.L.K.5Explore how words relate: groups, opposites and shades of meaning.
Comes NextL.1.4Use the sentence, word parts and root words like look as clues to meaning.

Practice L.K.4

Vocabulary Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolA word chart with a Draw It column: enter bark twice with its two meanings, and children draw a dog and a tree side by side.Word chartDraw itTwo meanings
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Quick Check

  1. Which two words in the sentence show that bark means the outside of a tree?
  2. What does the un- in unpack tell you?
  3. Give two meanings of the word bat.

L.K.4: Other Names

L.K.4CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.K.4

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.