text1="word1 word2 word3"
text2="word4 word5"
text3="word6 word7 word8"
set -f #disable globbing in unquoted var expansions (optional)
for i in text1 text2 text3; do
eval "j=\$$i" #i holds name, $j holds the fields
for k in $j; do #k holds a field
echo "$k in $i"
done
done
Saída:
word1 in text1
word2 in text1
word3 in text1
word4 in text2
word5 in text2
word6 in text3
word7 in text3
word8 in text3