#!/usr/bin/perl
use warnings;
use strict;

my $list = 'foo #comment bar <tag> baz';

my ($first, $second, $third) = grep(/^\w+$/, split(' ',$list));

print<<_;
1. $first
2. $second
3. $third
_
;

C:\>perl test.pl
1. foo
2. bar
3. baz