plate, plait

Plate or plate means a dish--
Put the sandwiches on a plate.
She wanted to hang the pretty plate on the wall..
Plate or plate also means a coating of metal--
The watch  was covered in gold plate.

Plait or plait ( rhymes with plate or with flat ) means a braid made of three strands of hair, yarn, rope, or string--
The girl wore her hair in a long plait.
Plait may be used as a verb ( action word )--
She like to watch her mother plait her hair.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"If you make three coils of clay and plait them, you can make a decorative edge on the plate."

Note--"plating" means a coating of metal--
They are plating his baby shoes with bronze.
"Plaiting" means made with braids--
This ribbon plaiting will look nice on the edge of the picture.
"Plaiting" also means making braids --
She is upstairs plaiting her hair.