A study extended word association methodology beyond isolated word stimuli to investigate the effects of written context on the meanings that proficient readers impart to words. A repeated-measures design was used to assess the responses of 62 sixth grade readers to target words at three levels: no context, limited context, and expanded context. Two means used to assess the meaning of target words were number of response categories and proportion of paradigmatic responding. The results indicated that meanings attached to a word were more constrained when the word was embedded in a sentence than when it was isolated. The findings refute the implications of earlier word association research. (Author/FL)