There are two main classes of antennas: directional and omnidirectional. Directional antennas are ones that focus signals into a narrow beam and have high directivity, while omnidirectional antennas are ones that have much lower directivity, and beams that are evenly spread along a particular plane.
Dipole antennas contain two separated wires at their poles which emit a donut-shaped radiation pattern. These can be considered omnidirectional or very weak directional antennas. These antennas are used widely in shorter range applications, and in ground stations for small drones.
The Yagi-Uda antenna is a dipole antenna that contains several directors and reflectors which help focus the signal into a highly directional beam. These are commonly used in cell phone towers.
Commonly used in older television radio networks, dish antennas are great at focusing signals into directional beams with the help of the carefully crafted reflective dish.
Patch antennas contain two pieces of conductive material (a patch and a backplate) separated by a substrate. The space between them creates a magnetic field which fringes at the edges of the plate resulting in propogation. They are incredibly common in cubesats, but tend to be more omnidirectional.
