my %dict; while ( ) { my ( $key, $val ) = /^(\d+)\s+(\w+)/; $dict{ $val } = $key; } my $cc = join '', keys %dict; my ( $min ) = my ( $max ) = map length, keys %dict; for ( map length, keys %dict ) { $min = $_ if $min > $_; $max = $_ if $max < $_; } my $pattern = qr/\b([$cc]{$min,$max})\b/; while (my $line = ) { $line =~ s/(\S+)/$dict{$1} || $1/eg; print $line; }