Plate
A dental plate is what holds a set of false teeth. So we can have a lower plate and/or an upper plate. A face plate is a covering installed over the front of a machine. It is usually adorned with symbols and instructions on how to use the machine. It often  has dials and knobs to show what is happening and to allow adjustments. To plate something is to cover it with a thin layer of durable material, as in chrome plating
Home plate is the location that must be crossed/touched in order to complete a run in baseball. A sill plate is the bigger piece of wood at the bottom/top of a window hole in the wall, before putting the actual window in there. Plating something could be putting it on a plate as in liver and onions or it can be covering something less precious (base metal) with something more precious (gold) to make it appear more valuable
Tectonic plates are large sections of the crust of the earth and are a part of what is called the lithosphere. The center of the earth is molten and hot. As we get further away it gets cooler and eventually the crust forms, and that is solid. As the earth’s core continues to cool it shrinks a tiny bit and the crust, which is in about 7 or 8 extremely large plates, moves to reposition. That is tectonic plate movement
A printing plate is a master engraving of something that is to be copied many times, like a newspaper, a postage stamp or a limited number of copies of a work of art (a lithography). Once we have the image engraved we can roll on some ink and then roll a piece of paper over that in order to get a copy of the image. The engraving must be the reverse of the image we want. All copies are identical
A base plate is a rigid foundation to build upon. A base plate could also be that which is designated as first or second or third base. A switch plate is a plastic cover for the electrical wiring associated with a light switch. A piece of metal plate can be engraved and used to print counterfeit money. A plate that is plated with silver or gold and engraved can be a trophy given to the winner of a competition, like the Queen’s Plate