The purpose of the study is to reconstruct the cognitive semantics of the verbal predicates “чудиться”, “почудиться”, taking into account their inner form, and also to suggest a linguo‑cognitive model for explaining polysemy. The object of the study is the different contextual meanings of the verbal predicates “чудиться”, “почудиться” in the contexts of fictional discourse, the subject is cognitive semantics as a repeated structure of cognitive processes reflecting the patterns of understanding and thinking. The article presents a typology of contexts for the functioning of verbal predicates, their different contextual meanings are defined, the semantic dependence of the contextual meaning of the verb word on the semantics of the broader context analyzed, the role of the inner form in the creation of polysemy determined, while a linguo‑cognitive model for explaining polysemy in terms of “gestalt”, “focus”, “background – figure”, “focusing – defocusing” is suggested.