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.