You could try using a data structure like the following:

%monitored_files = (
    "messages" => { FILE => "/var/log/messages",
                    HANDLE => undef,
                  }
);
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Then use it like:

foreach $key (keys (%monitored_files)) {
    open ($monitored_files{$key}{HANDLE}, $monitored_files{$key}{FILE}
+) or die "Could not open $key: $!";
    print(" * $key opened\n");
}
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