This paper argues that polysemous and monosemous analyses of word meanings are not necessarily mutually exclusive but that they can effectively complement one another. In particular, the polysemous approach to word meanings should be replaced as much as possible by a monosemous approach based on conceptualization principles which account for the diversity of a word's usages. First, the paper discusses the following issues: Is it necessary to assume that each concept corresponds with a sense? Can one concept correspond with a combination of two words which clearly do not constitute a compound or lexical phrase, and, if so, should a polysemous explanation be postulated? Is it necessary to assume different senses if a word participates in different word classes? In all three cases, it is suggested that a monosemous approach is possible albeit that in some cases complementary principles are needed. Subsequently, a cognitive-pragmatic approach is suggested to reference-point constituents, i.e., explicitly possessive structures (possessive pronouns, the genitive, the of-construction) and implicitly possessive structures (metonymic usages of personal pronouns). It is argued that the speaker's choice of a possessive structure is based on a prelinguistic process of "thinking for speaking", in which a relationis conceptualized in order to select the right wording. The speaker selects the morpheme which is best suited to signal the so-called possessive relationship. The relation signaled by means of a possessive morpheme must be compatible with what can be integrated into the conceptualization of the frame of reference that is kept updated on the basis of one or more previous utterances (or on the basis of the context of situation and knowledge of the world). The current frame of reference is held to be partly based on how the interlocutors expect to conceptualize their world. Therefore, lexical meanings serve as cues which guide the hearer in his or her process of thinking for understanding the utterance. (Theo A.J.M. Janssen)