Abstract：By analyzing the senses and examples of preposition“on”given in learners' dictionaries from the perspective of spatial relations, this paper finds that the senses of “on”can demonstrate five spatial relations: support relation, constraint relation, covering relation, inclusion relation and proximity relation. Based on this study, it can be found that the polysemy of preposition “on”originates from its demonstrated spatial relations, and the senses are closely related to one another on occount of these spatial relations, with regularity to conform to.

Keyword：preposition “on”;spatial relation;polysemy;