Try starting from the following. It is based on your trial. Compare it with yours to see the modificaitons that were needed to make it work.
I hope this helps...
--David
chooseWords[words : {_String ..}] :=
DynamicModule[{x = {}, temp = words},
{TogglerBar[Dynamic@x, temp],
Dynamic@x}]
Make use of it, for example, like the following
chooseWords[{"aword", "bword", "cword", "dword"}]
I assumed you wanted to be restricted to Strings, but that is not necessary in order to make it work.