A method of inferring user intent in search input in a conversational interaction system is disclosed. A method of inferring user intent in a search input includes providing a user preference signature that describes preferences of the user, receiving search input from the user intended by the user to identify at least one desired item, and determining that a portion of the search input contains an ambiguous identifier. The ambiguous identifier is intended by the user to identify, at least in part, a desired item. The method further includes inferring a meaning for the ambiguous identifier based on matching portions of the search input to the preferences of the user described by the user preference signature and selecting items from a set of content items based on comparing the search input and the inferred meaning of the ambiguous identifier with metadata associated with the content items.