re = /(\b\S+\b)(?=.*\b\1\b)/m
str = '123-1 123-2 test-1 test-1 w/e 10/04/20
Company w/e 09/06/20 083020-090620
a/b 01/01
test_1 test_2
a/b a/b
Inv 50049 50049 Inv 50195 PrjPAN02
Inv 51360-1, 51366-7; 51372 Inv 51360-1, 51366-7; 372 PrjPAN02
Inv 51360-1, 51366-7; 51372 51372 Inv 513601, 51366-7; 372 PrjPAN02
55009, 55017, 55022 55001, 55022, 55025
55254, 61 55246,66,69
55733, 41, 44 55727, 45,48
57269, 71,74,75, 57354 57266, 73
57437, 38, 41, 43 57434, 40
w/e 09/20/20 091320-092020'
subst = '""'
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html