Modals and Their Meaning in Context

By focusing on an oil-related theme, learners answer questions using context clues. They assign meaning to each highlighted modal in an example sentence from a word bank of choices. (Examples of meaning choices include impossibility (cannot), preference (would rather), ability in the past (could), and lack of necessity (didn't have to).) This 10-question activity would be appropriate for upper elementary and middle schoolers learning English.