This study explores the ways students in a higher education setting engage in word searches. The investigation draws on 30-hour video recordings of content classes in an English as a medium of instruction university in Turkey. Using conversation analysis, the study focuses on the interactionally accomplished functions of vocal and visual practices deployed by the students in the course of a word search. We revealed that word searches are constructed through publicly visible resources (i.e. gaze, body orientation, gestures) and explicit formulaic expressions (i.e. how can I say it?), and accomplished via bilingual resources. It was also observed that the teacher does not orient to word searches when there is a need to interactionally monitor and manage the repairable content (i.e. pedagogical content, subject-specific word), thus prioritizing content over second language (i.e. English) use in the current content-oriented setting. The study contributes to our understanding of how the participants’ situated roles as a student and teacher are contingently negotiated in the ongoing word search in bilingual classroom contexts.