Before assigning a label, identify four things: assigned sense, intended sense, the relation between them, and the contextual clue. Otherwise classification becomes a superficial recognition exercise.
Example 1: “A lion is addressing the assembly” — if a brave orator is intended and an animal reading is excluded by the context, the use is majāz.
Example 2: “His hem is clean” — if this alludes to moral purity while an actually clean garment remains possible, the use is kināyah.
Example 3: “Zayd is like a lion” — the resemblance is explicitly expressed; in its basic form it is a simile.
Analysis depends on the context and intended relation, not merely on the appearance of one familiar word.