my @words = split(/\s+/, $_[0]);	# <-- Better to split on any whitespace
  my $newquery = qq[SELECT "taskID" from "repair" WHERE ("repairKEYWORD1" = '')];

  foreach my $currentword (@words) {	# <-- Current word goes outside brackets
    $currentword =~ /^([\w]+)$/;
    $newquery .= qq[ or ("repairKEYWORD1" = '$currentword')];
    $newquery .= qq[ or ("repairKEYWORD2" = '$currentword')];
    $newquery .= qq[ or ("repairKEYWORD3" = '$currentword')];
  }