my $text = "This is a test for the word blue more things blue and then some very large text with a lot of things blue and done";

##</code><code>##

my $WANT = "blue";

my @results = $text =~ m/(?:\w+\s+){0,5}
                 (?:$WANT)
                 (?:\s+\w+){0,5}
                /xgi;

##</code><code>##

a test for the word blue more things blue and then
with a lot of things blue and done

##</code><code>##

a test for the word blue more things blue and then some very large
with a lot of things blue and done

##</code><code>##

my $WANT = "blue";

my @results = $text =~ m/(?:\w+\s+){0,5}
                 (?:$WANT)
                 (?:\s+\w+){0,5}
                 (?:
                 \s+(?:$WANT)
                 (?:\s+\w+){0,5}
                 )?
                /xgi;