Grammar Question

1. The appetizers served their purpose. "purpose" can mean singular or plural.

2. The words had completely different meanings. "words" can have different meanings. plural. e.g. cell can mean organism, a jail cell, or cell phone.

Is it correct to make purpose and meaning plural or no? Thanks!

Imagine , if you will , a soirée where appetisers served their purpose and main courses , without waiting , followed close behind ; a world where words had completely different meaning to those ordinarily ascribed.

I stand corrected:

purpose

Is purpose plural? Purpose is singular.
The plural of purpose is purposes.

Now remember a maximum in grammar is that the spirit of the MESSAGE is more important than any structure. There is no confusion if you think about your intent to be plural or not, if in fact both are right and neither of the two optins is wrong, then stick to the more precise one according to your message

I understand. Looking back, it's a dumb question. I hesitate every time I write something like "they were in a state of distress," wondering whether I should write "they were in states of distress" or "they were in distressed states" instead. I know the singular "state" sounds better, but for some reason I can't shake wanting to assign each of them their own state or whatever it is. It's very silly of me. I wish I could speak English better and am always looking for areas to improve which makes me forget how flexible English, and language in general, is.