re = /^(?:.*\b)?(\w+)\h*\b2\b.*/m
str = '2 NO PEMJNUM 2 ALTOGETHER HOW MANY JOBS 216 - 217
1 REFERENCE PERSON 2 SPOUSE 3 CHILD 4 OTHER RELATIVE (PRIMARY FAMILY & UNREL) PRFAMTYP 2 FAMILY TYPE RECODE 155 - 156
5 UNABLE TO WORK PUBUS1 2 LAST WEEK DID YOU DO ANY 184 - 185
2 NO PEIO1COW 2 INDIVIDUAL CLASS OF WORKER CODE 432 - 433'
subst = '\\1'
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