list = {"hello world"} idx = 0 io = {} io.read = function() idx = idx+1 return list[idx] end function allwords () local line = io.read() -- current line local pos = 1 -- current position in the line return function () -- iterator function while line do -- repeat while there are lines local s, e = string.find(line, "%w+", pos) if s then -- found a word? pos = e + 1 -- next position is after this word return string.sub(line, s, e) -- return the word else line = io.read() -- word not found; try next line pos = 1 -- restart from first position end end return nil -- no more lines: end of traversal end end -- use example for word in allwords() do print(word) end