Imports System

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

Public Module Module1

    Public Sub Main()

        Dim lines = { "word1|word2|word3", "anotherword1|anotherword2" }

        Dim input = "This word1 is as word2 as anotherword2"

        Console.WriteLine("Original Text : {0}", input)

        For Each line As String In lines

            Dim pat = String.Format("\b({0})\b", line)

            input = Regex.Replace(input, pat, line)

        Next

        Console.WriteLine("Manipulated Text : {0}", input)

    End Sub

​

End Module