examples <- c('Ben likes bananas. I have a banana.','Ben likes mangoes. I have a mango.','Ben likes plums. I have a plum.')
words <- c('bananas', 'mangoes', 'plums')
regex <- paste0('\\b(', paste(words, collapse='|'), ')\\b')
unlist(regmatches(examples, gregexpr(regex, examples)))
ZXhhbXBsZXMgPC0gYygnQmVuIGxpa2VzIGJhbmFuYXMuIEkgaGF2ZSBhIGJhbmFuYS4nLCdCZW4gbGlrZXMgbWFuZ29lcy4gSSBoYXZlIGEgbWFuZ28uJywnQmVuIGxpa2VzIHBsdW1zLiBJIGhhdmUgYSBwbHVtLicpCgp3b3JkcyA8LSBjKCdiYW5hbmFzJywgJ21hbmdvZXMnLCAncGx1bXMnKQpyZWdleCA8LSBwYXN0ZTAoJ1xcYignLCBwYXN0ZSh3b3JkcywgY29sbGFwc2U9J3wnKSwgJylcXGInKQoKdW5saXN0KHJlZ21hdGNoZXMoZXhhbXBsZXMsIGdyZWdleHByKHJlZ2V4LCBleGFtcGxlcykpKQ==