Definition of "polysemous" [polysemous]

• Having or characterized by many meanings: highly polysemous words such as play and table. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Words or phrases that can have two or more are sometimes referred to as polysemous words."
• "On its own, of course, a word may be horribly polysemous and ambiguous."
• "BD has always dwelt in a polysemous universe, which has left his texts open to unusual misinterpretation and abuse."