#!/usr/bin/perl -w use strict; my $string = "Field1: one"; my @regex; push(@regex, 'm/Field1: (\w{3})/'); push(@regex, 'm/Field2: (\w{3})/'); push(@regex, 'm/Field3: (\w{3})/'); foreach $_ (@regex) { $string =~ $_; print "$1\n" if defined $1; }