A binary-ternary configurable content addressable memory (CAM) (100). A plurality of CAM cells (114) including comparator logic cells (116) and paired storage locations (118, 118a, 118b) are directed by a signal at a mode terminal (120) to compare data provided at an input bus (110), either in binary mode against pre-stored content data or in ternary mode against pre-stored content and mask data. The comparator logic cells (116) generate respective bit signals (122) based on such comparison, and in this manner the plurality of CAM cells (114) may collectively be part of a CAM array block (104), which may optionally in turn work with a match detection block (106) to generate a match signal (126), and which may optionally in turn work with a priority encoder block (108) to generate a result signal at a result output (112).