polysemy

Plural: polysemies

Noun

• The coexistence of multiple meanings for a single word or phrase.
• the ambiguity of an individual word or phrase that can be used (in different contexts) to express two or more different meanings
• The quality characteristic of a polyseme, a sign (such as a word or symbol) that has multiple meanings (senses), often including multiple similar ones.

Examples

• The word ’BANK’ exhibits polysemy, making it a versatile play in Scrabble.

Synonyms

lexical ambiguity

Antonyms

monosemy

Related Words

ambiguity, homonymy, lexical ambiguity, polysemic, polysemous, polysemously