This paper reports on a study of mathematics teachers' thinking in the teaching of contextual or word problems [WP] with particular focus on teachers' conceptions of WP and the relationship to teaching. The 20 participants included Grades 1-12 preservice and inservice teachers. Data consisted of interviews and classroom observations. The findings indicated 8 ways in which the teachers conceptualized WP, e.g., WP as object and experience, and a model of WP as a nesting of mathematics and social contexts. These conceptions played a significant role in framing their teaching of WP in terms of 4 teaching perspectives, including a paradigmatic and a phenomenological approach. Implications for teacher development based on the findings are also discussed. (Contains 2 figures.) [For complete proceedings, see ED500859.]