my @results = $str =~ m{ (?= (\S+ \s+ \Q$word\E \s+ \S+) ) }xmsg;

##</code><code>##

my @results = $str =~ m{ (?= (\S \s+ \Q$word\E \s+ \S+) ) }xmsg;

##</code><code>##

my @results = $str =~ m{ (?<! \S ) (?= (\S+ \s+ \Q$word\E \s+ \S+) ) }xmsg;