I like this approach because it allows for some nice sanity checking too (I know it is only 1 array_ref, but it is the principle)

sub get_my_list
{
  my $array_ref = $_;
  if( &some_other_func() ){
    @{$array_ref} = qw( Yadda yAdda yaDda );
    return 1;
  }
  return 0;
}

if( get_my_list(\@array) ){
  print 'I got this array: '.join(',',@array);
}else{
  print 'Failed';
}
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But leading back to your original question, my initial thoughts would also be to use a hash_ref. Your scalar-array data pattern lends itself well to a hash. And if the hash key (scalar) is a key to a particular function that you wish to perform on the array then your method becomes easily scalable.