Hi wolfgangea,

Make a copy of the xls file, move the list of words to the first column on
the first worksheet and save this copy as 'Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt)'.

In Word, record any macro, say record clicking the B-button on the Standard
toolbar, and be sure to choose the document under 'Store macro in'.
Choose Tools | Macro > Macro's..., select your macro and choose Edit. The
VBA-editor opens.
Replace the entire macro by the following:

Sub HighlightWords()
Dim strWord As String

   Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory

   Open "G:\temp\ListOfWords.txt" For Input As #1
   While Not EOF(1)
       Line Input #1, strWord
       
       With Selection.Find
           .ClearFormatting
           .Text = strWord
           .Forward = True
           .Wrap = wdFindContinue
           .MatchWholeWord = True
           .Execute
       End With
       
       While Selection.Find.Found
           Selection.Range.HighlightColorIndex = wdRed
           Selection.Find.Execute
       Wend
       
       Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
   Wend
   Close #1
   
End Sub

Replace "G:\temp\ListOfWords.txt" by the .txt file you just made.
Click the Save button in the VBA editor to save the document. Close the VBA
editor. In Word, choose Tools | Macro > Macros... Select HighlightWords and
click Run.

Good luck,
Cooz
--
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Thanks.