Discussions of single-word figurative use focus on a word employed beyond its established signification. But the existence of such a category does not show that every metaphorical act must be contained within one independent word.
An illustrative metaphor may use a configuration of multiple elements or an entire expression. The wider domain of figurative speech should therefore not be confused with one of its subdivisions.
For example, applying “lion” to a brave human is an evident one-word transfer; mapping a whole described situation to another situation can operate at a different structural level.