diff --git a/docs/api.md b/docs/api.md
index 2712cf9..69c2b74 100644
--- a/docs/api.md
+++ b/docs/api.md
@@ -410,30 +410,21 @@ Instead of matching _n_ keywords with _n_ `P('keyword_`_`n`_`')` ordered choices
 convenience function: [`lexer.word_match()`](#lexer.word_match). It is much easier and more efficient to
 write word matches like:
 
-    local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, lexer.word_match[[
-      keyword_1 keyword_2 ... keyword_n
-    ]])
-
-    local case_insensitive_keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, lexer.word_match([[
-      KEYWORD_1 keyword_2 ... KEYword_n
-    ]], true))
-
-    local hyphened_keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, lexer.word_match[[
-      keyword-1 keyword-2 ... keyword-n
-    ]])
-
-In order to more easily separate or categorize keyword sets, you can use Lua line comments
-within keyword strings. Such comments will be ignored. For example:
-
-    local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, lexer.word_match[[
-      -- Version 1 keywords.
-      keyword_11, keyword_12 ... keyword_1n
-      -- Version 2 keywords.
-      keyword_21, keyword_22 ... keyword_2n
-      ...
-      -- Version N keywords.
-      keyword_m1, keyword_m2 ... keyword_mn
-    ]])
+    local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, lexer.word_match{
+      'keyword_1', 'keyword_2', ..., 'keyword_n'
+    })
+
+    local case_insensitive_keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, lexer.word_match({
+      'KEYWORD_1', 'keyword_2', ..., 'KEYword_n'
+    }, true))
+
+    local hyphened_keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, lexer.word_match{
+      'keyword-1', 'keyword-2', ..., 'keyword-n'
+    })
+
+For short keyword lists, you can use a single string of words. For example:
+
+    local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, lexer.word_match('key_1 key_2 ... key_n'))
 
 **Comments**
 
@@ -827,8 +818,8 @@ recommended that you migrate yours. The migration process is fairly straightforw
    your tokens and patterns using [`lex:add_rule()`](#lexer.add_rule).
 4. Similarly, any custom token names should have their styles immediately defined using
    [`lex:add_style()`](#lexer.add_style).
-5. Convert any table arguments passed to [`lexer.word_match()`](#lexer.word_match) to a space-separated string
-   of words.
+5. Optionally convert any table arguments passed to [`lexer.word_match()`](#lexer.word_match) to a
+   space-separated string of words.
 6. Replace any calls to `lexer.embed(M, child, ...)` and `lexer.embed(parent, M, ...)` with
    [`lex:embed`](#lexer.embed)`(child, ...)` and `parent:embed(lex, ...)`, respectively.
 7. Define fold points with simple calls to [`lex:add_fold_point()`](#lexer.add_fold_point). No
@@ -886,8 +877,8 @@ Following the migration steps would yield:
     local lex = lexer.new('legacy')
 
     lex:add_rule('whitespace', token(lexer.WHITESPACE, lexer.space^1))
-    lex:add_rule('keyword', token(lexer.KEYWORD, word_match[[foo bar baz]]))
-    lex:add_rule('custom', token('custom', P('quux')))
+    lex:add_rule('keyword', token(lexer.KEYWORD, word_match('foo bar baz')))
+    lex:add_rule('custom', token('custom', 'quux'))
     lex:add_style('custom', lexer.styles.keyword .. {bold = true})
     lex:add_rule('identifier', token(lexer.IDENTIFIER, lexer.word))
     lex:add_rule('string', token(lexer.STRING, lexer.range('"')))
@@ -1605,26 +1596,25 @@ Return:
 * pattern
 
 <a id="lexer.word_match"></a>
-#### `lexer.word_match`(words, case\_insensitive, word\_chars)
+#### `lexer.word_match`(word\_list, case\_insensitive, word\_chars)
 
-Creates and returns a pattern that matches any single word in string *words*.
+Creates and returns a pattern that matches any single word in list or string *words*.
 *case_insensitive* indicates whether or not to ignore case when matching words.
 This is a convenience function for simplifying a set of ordered choice word patterns.
-If *words* is a multi-line string, it may contain Lua line comments (`--`) that will ultimately
-be ignored.
 
 Fields:
 
-* `words`: A string list of words separated by spaces.
+* `word_list`: A list of words or a string list of words separated by spaces.
 * `case_insensitive`: Optional boolean flag indicating whether or not the word match is
   case-insensitive. The default value is `false`.
 * `word_chars`: Unused legacy parameter.
 
 Usage:
 
-* `local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, word_match[[foo bar baz]])`
-* `local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, word_match([[foo-bar foo-baz bar-foo bar-baz
-  baz-foo baz-bar]], true))`
+* `local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, word_match{'foo', 'bar', 'baz'})`
+* `local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, word_match({'foo-bar', 'foo-baz', 'bar-foo',
+  'bar-baz', 'baz-foo', 'baz-bar'}, true))`
+* `local keyword = token(lexer.KEYWORD, word_match('foo bar baz'))`
 
 Return: