diff --git a/ruta-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/resource/MultiTreeWordList.java b/ruta-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/resource/MultiTreeWordList.java
index 4b6d9ff..fd25685 100644
--- a/ruta-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/resource/MultiTreeWordList.java
+++ b/ruta-core/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/resource/MultiTreeWordList.java
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@
   /** The cost model we are using. */
   private EditDistanceCostMap costMap;
 
+  private boolean dictRemoveWS = false;
+
   /**
    * Default constructor.
    * 
@@ -155,9 +157,25 @@
    *           When there is a problem reading a path.
    */
   public MultiTreeWordList(String[] pathnames, File base) throws IOException {
+    this(pathnames, base, false);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Constructs a TreeWordList from a file with path = filename
+   * 
+   * @param pathnames
+   *          path of the file to create a TextWordList from
+   * @param base
+   *          - the relative base
+   * @param dictRemoveWS
+   *          remove white spaces
+   * @throws IOException
+   *           When there is a problem reading a path.
+   */
+  public MultiTreeWordList(String[] pathnames, File base, boolean dictRemoveWS) throws IOException {
     this.root = new MultiTextNode();
     this.costMap = new EditDistanceCostMap();
-
+    this.dictRemoveWS = dictRemoveWS;
     if (pathnames == null) {
       return;
     }
@@ -177,8 +195,23 @@
    *           - When there is a problem reading the files.
    */
   public MultiTreeWordList(List<File> files, File base) throws IOException {
+    this(files, base, false);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @param files
+   *          - the input files
+   * @param base
+   *          - the relative base
+   * @param dictRemoveWS
+   *          - remove white spaces
+   * @throws IOException
+   *           - When there is a problem reading the files.
+   */
+  public MultiTreeWordList(List<File> files, File base, boolean dictRemoveWS) throws IOException {
     this.root = new MultiTextNode();
     this.costMap = new EditDistanceCostMap();
+    this.dictRemoveWS = dictRemoveWS;
 
     if (files == null) {
       return;
@@ -275,6 +308,10 @@
 
     for (Character each : s.toCharArray()) {
 
+      if (dictRemoveWS && Character.isWhitespace(each)) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
       MultiTextNode childNode = pointer.getChildNode(each);
 
       if (childNode == null) {
diff --git a/ruta-docbook/src/docbook/tools.ruta.howtos.xml b/ruta-docbook/src/docbook/tools.ruta.howtos.xml
index 3cecf68..a46a9e4 100644
--- a/ruta-docbook/src/docbook/tools.ruta.howtos.xml
+++ b/ruta-docbook/src/docbook/tools.ruta.howtos.xml
@@ -419,7 +419,11 @@
   <!-- Compress resulting tree word list. -->
   <!-- default value: true -->
   <compress>true</compress>
-
+  
+  <!-- Remove white spaces when generating word list. -->
+  <!-- default value: true -->
+  <dictRemoveWS>true</dictRemoveWS>
+  
   <!-- The source files for the tree word list. -->
   <!-- default value: none -->
   <inputFiles>
@@ -472,6 +476,10 @@
   <!-- Compress resulting tree word list. -->
   <!-- default value: true -->
   <compress>true</compress>
+  
+  <!-- Remove white spaces when generating word list. -->
+  <!-- default value: true -->
+  <dictRemoveWS>true</dictRemoveWS>
 
   <!-- The source files for the multi tree word list. -->
   <!-- default value: none -->
diff --git a/ruta-docbook/src/docbook/tools.ruta.workbench.create_dictionaries.xml b/ruta-docbook/src/docbook/tools.ruta.workbench.create_dictionaries.xml
index 641b743..806a054 100644
--- a/ruta-docbook/src/docbook/tools.ruta.workbench.create_dictionaries.xml
+++ b/ruta-docbook/src/docbook/tools.ruta.workbench.create_dictionaries.xml
@@ -90,5 +90,8 @@
     <quote>generated.mtwl</quote>
     will be created.
   </para>
+  <para>
+    The preferences page provides the option to remove white spaces when generating the word lists.
+  </para>
 
 </section>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ruta-ep-addons/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/utils/twl/MultiTWLConverterHandler.java b/ruta-ep-addons/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/utils/twl/MultiTWLConverterHandler.java
index 8c3fbcd..1b6c318 100755
--- a/ruta-ep-addons/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/utils/twl/MultiTWLConverterHandler.java
+++ b/ruta-ep-addons/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/utils/twl/MultiTWLConverterHandler.java
@@ -54,12 +54,16 @@
 public class MultiTWLConverterHandler implements IHandler {
   private class ConverterHandlerJob extends Job {
     ExecutionEvent event;
+
     private boolean compress;
 
-    ConverterHandlerJob(ExecutionEvent event, boolean compress) {
+    private boolean dictRemoveWS;
+
+    ConverterHandlerJob(ExecutionEvent event, boolean compress, boolean dictRemoveWS) {
       super("Converting...");
       this.event = event;
       this.compress = compress;
+      this.dictRemoveWS = dictRemoveWS;
       setUser(true);
     }
 
@@ -88,7 +92,7 @@
         if (!paths.isEmpty()) {
           MultiTreeWordList trie;
           try {
-            trie = new MultiTreeWordList(paths.toArray(new String[0]), null);
+            trie = new MultiTreeWordList(paths.toArray(new String[0]), null, dictRemoveWS);
           } catch (IOException e) {
             RutaAddonsPlugin.error(e);
             return Status.CANCEL_STATUS;
@@ -126,16 +130,20 @@
     }
   }
 
+  @Override
   public void addHandlerListener(IHandlerListener handlerListener) {
   }
 
+  @Override
   public void dispose() {
   }
 
+  @Override
   public Object execute(ExecutionEvent event) throws ExecutionException {
     IPreferenceStore preferenceStore = RutaIdeUIPlugin.getDefault().getPreferenceStore();
     boolean compress = preferenceStore.getBoolean(RutaCorePreferences.COMPRESS_WORDLISTS);
-    new ConverterHandlerJob(event, compress).schedule();
+    boolean dictRemoveWS = preferenceStore.getBoolean(RutaCorePreferences.DICT_REMOVE_WS);
+    new ConverterHandlerJob(event, compress, dictRemoveWS).schedule();
     return null;
   }
 
@@ -161,14 +169,17 @@
     return paths;
   }
 
+  @Override
   public boolean isEnabled() {
     return true;
   }
 
+  @Override
   public boolean isHandled() {
     return true;
   }
 
+  @Override
   public void removeHandlerListener(IHandlerListener handlerListener) {
 
   }
diff --git a/ruta-ep-addons/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/utils/twl/TWLConverterHandler.java b/ruta-ep-addons/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/utils/twl/TWLConverterHandler.java
index 45a7016..cd2784e 100755
--- a/ruta-ep-addons/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/utils/twl/TWLConverterHandler.java
+++ b/ruta-ep-addons/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/utils/twl/TWLConverterHandler.java
@@ -50,12 +50,16 @@
 
   private class ConverterHandlerJob extends Job {
     ExecutionEvent event;
+
     private boolean compress;
 
-    ConverterHandlerJob(ExecutionEvent event, boolean compress) {
+    private boolean dictRemoveWS;
+
+    ConverterHandlerJob(ExecutionEvent event, boolean compress, boolean dictRemoveWS) {
       super("Converting...");
       this.event = event;
       this.compress = compress;
+      this.dictRemoveWS = dictRemoveWS;
       setUser(true);
     }
 
@@ -81,7 +85,7 @@
         String path = file.getRawLocation().toString();
         TreeWordList list;
         try {
-          list = new TreeWordList(path, false);
+          list = new TreeWordList(path, dictRemoveWS);
         } catch (IOException e) {
           RutaAddonsPlugin.error(e);
           return Status.CANCEL_STATUS;
@@ -109,27 +113,34 @@
     }
   }
 
+  @Override
   public void addHandlerListener(IHandlerListener handlerListener) {
   }
 
+  @Override
   public void dispose() {
   }
 
+  @Override
   public Object execute(ExecutionEvent event) throws ExecutionException {
     IPreferenceStore preferenceStore = RutaIdeUIPlugin.getDefault().getPreferenceStore();
     boolean compress = preferenceStore.getBoolean(RutaCorePreferences.COMPRESS_WORDLISTS);
-    new ConverterHandlerJob(event, compress).schedule();
+    boolean dictRemoveWS = preferenceStore.getBoolean(RutaCorePreferences.DICT_REMOVE_WS);
+    new ConverterHandlerJob(event, compress, dictRemoveWS).schedule();
     return null;
   }
 
+  @Override
   public boolean isEnabled() {
     return true;
   }
 
+  @Override
   public boolean isHandled() {
     return true;
   }
 
+  @Override
   public void removeHandlerListener(IHandlerListener handlerListener) {
 
   }
diff --git a/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaBuilderPreferencePage.java b/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaBuilderPreferencePage.java
index d4774eb..cc3df83 100644
--- a/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaBuilderPreferencePage.java
+++ b/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaBuilderPreferencePage.java
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@
 /**
  * Preference page to manage preferences for the ide plugin.
  */
-public class RutaBuilderPreferencePage extends FieldEditorPreferencePage implements
-        IWorkbenchPreferencePage {
+public class RutaBuilderPreferencePage extends FieldEditorPreferencePage
+        implements IWorkbenchPreferencePage {
 
   private BooleanFieldEditor builderImport;
 
@@ -60,13 +60,16 @@
             RutaCorePreferences.BUILDER_IGNORE_DUPLICATE_SHORTNAMES,
             RutaPreferencesMessages.BuilderIgnoreDuplicateShortnames, getFieldEditorParent());
     addField(builderShortNames);
-    
-    compressWordLists = new BooleanFieldEditor(
-            RutaCorePreferences.COMPRESS_WORDLISTS,
+
+    compressWordLists = new BooleanFieldEditor(RutaCorePreferences.COMPRESS_WORDLISTS,
             RutaPreferencesMessages.CompressWordLists, getFieldEditorParent());
+
+    compressWordLists = new BooleanFieldEditor(RutaCorePreferences.DICT_REMOVE_WS,
+            RutaPreferencesMessages.DictRemoveWS, getFieldEditorParent());
     addField(compressWordLists);
   }
 
+  @Override
   public void init(IWorkbench workbench) {
   }
 
diff --git a/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaPreferencesMessages.java b/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaPreferencesMessages.java
index 5503f03..8219a1e 100644
--- a/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaPreferencesMessages.java
+++ b/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaPreferencesMessages.java
@@ -22,8 +22,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.osgi.util.NLS;
 
 public class RutaPreferencesMessages extends NLS {
-  private static final String BUNDLE_NAME = "org.apache.uima.ruta.ide.ui.preferences.RutaPreferencesMessages";//$NON-NLS-1$	
-
+  private static final String BUNDLE_NAME = "org.apache.uima.ruta.ide.ui.preferences.RutaPreferencesMessages";//$NON-NLS-1$
 
   private RutaPreferencesMessages() {
     // Do not instantiate
@@ -78,12 +77,13 @@
   public static String ProjectClearOutput;
 
   public static String NoVMInDevMode;
-  
+
   public static String AddSDI;
-  
+
   public static String CompressWordLists;
-  
+
+  public static String DictRemoveWS;
+
   public static String DefaultCasSerializationFormat;
 
-  
 }
diff --git a/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/resources/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaPreferencesMessages.properties b/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/resources/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaPreferencesMessages.properties
index b1b237f..7ae71a5 100644
--- a/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/resources/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaPreferencesMessages.properties
+++ b/ruta-ep-ide-ui/src/main/resources/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/ui/preferences/RutaPreferencesMessages.properties
@@ -44,4 +44,5 @@
 NoVMInDevMode = Do not start a VM in development mode.
 AddSDI = Update Source Document Information when launching a script.
 CompressWordLists = Compress generated twl/mtwl word lists.
+DictRemoveWS = Remove white spaces when generating twl/mtwl word lists.
 DefaultCasSerializationFormat = Default CAS serialization format:
diff --git a/ruta-ep-ide/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/core/RutaCorePreferences.java b/ruta-ep-ide/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/core/RutaCorePreferences.java
index e6dec76..4d1e86d 100644
--- a/ruta-ep-ide/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/core/RutaCorePreferences.java
+++ b/ruta-ep-ide/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/core/RutaCorePreferences.java
@@ -34,5 +34,7 @@
 
   public static final String COMPRESS_WORDLISTS = "CompressWordLists";
 
+  public static final String DICT_REMOVE_WS = "dictRemoveWS";
+
   public static final String DEFAULT_CAS_SERIALIZATION_FORMAT = "DefaultCasSerializationFormat";
 }
diff --git a/ruta-ep-ide/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/core/RutaPreferenceInitializer.java b/ruta-ep-ide/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/core/RutaPreferenceInitializer.java
index 1217bf3..138a528 100644
--- a/ruta-ep-ide/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/core/RutaPreferenceInitializer.java
+++ b/ruta-ep-ide/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/ide/core/RutaPreferenceInitializer.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
   public RutaPreferenceInitializer() {
   }
 
+  @Override
   public void initializeDefaultPreferences() {
     IPreferenceStore store = RutaIdeCorePlugin.getDefault().getPreferenceStore();
     // TaskTagUtils.initializeDefaultValues(store);
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@
     store.setDefault(RutaCorePreferences.NO_VM_IN_DEV_MODE, false);
     store.setDefault(RutaCorePreferences.ADD_SDI, false);
     store.setDefault(RutaCorePreferences.COMPRESS_WORDLISTS, false);
+    store.setDefault(RutaCorePreferences.DICT_REMOVE_WS, false);
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/ruta-maven-plugin/src/it/wordlists/pom.xml b/ruta-maven-plugin/src/it/wordlists/pom.xml
index c71e3e2..6392fa4 100644
--- a/ruta-maven-plugin/src/it/wordlists/pom.xml
+++ b/ruta-maven-plugin/src/it/wordlists/pom.xml
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@
             </goals>
             <configuration>
               <compress>false</compress>
+              <dictRemoveWS>true</dictRemoveWS>
               <inputFiles>
                 <directory>${basedir}/src/main/resources</directory>
                 <includes>
@@ -117,6 +118,7 @@
             </goals>
             <configuration>
               <compress>false</compress>
+              <dictRemoveWS>true</dictRemoveWS>
               <inputFiles>
                 <directory>${basedir}/src/main/resources</directory>
                 <includes>
diff --git a/ruta-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/maven/RutaGenerateMTWLMojo.java b/ruta-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/maven/RutaGenerateMTWLMojo.java
index 254824c..93ebc1f 100644
--- a/ruta-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/maven/RutaGenerateMTWLMojo.java
+++ b/ruta-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/maven/RutaGenerateMTWLMojo.java
@@ -76,6 +76,12 @@
   private boolean compress;
 
   /**
+   * Remove white spaces while generating dictionaries.
+   */
+  @Parameter(defaultValue = "true", required = true)
+  private boolean dictRemoveWS;
+
+  /**
    * Fail on error.
    */
   @Parameter(defaultValue = "true", required = true)
@@ -107,7 +113,7 @@
 
     MultiTreeWordList trie = null;
     try {
-      trie = new MultiTreeWordList(files, new File(inputFiles.getDirectory()));
+      trie = new MultiTreeWordList(files, new File(inputFiles.getDirectory()), dictRemoveWS);
     } catch (IOException e) {
       handleError("Error creating MTWL file.", e);
     }
diff --git a/ruta-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/maven/RutaGenerateTWLMojo.java b/ruta-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/maven/RutaGenerateTWLMojo.java
index 961014e..b10ab3c 100644
--- a/ruta-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/maven/RutaGenerateTWLMojo.java
+++ b/ruta-maven-plugin/src/main/java/org/apache/uima/ruta/maven/RutaGenerateTWLMojo.java
@@ -78,6 +78,12 @@
   private boolean compress;
 
   /**
+   * Remove white spaces while generating dictionaries.
+   */
+  @Parameter(defaultValue = "true", required = true)
+  private boolean dictRemoveWS;
+
+  /**
    * Fail on error.
    */
   @Parameter(defaultValue = "true", required = true)
@@ -111,7 +117,7 @@
       File outputFile = each.getValue();
       TreeWordList list = null;
       try {
-        list = new TreeWordList(inputFile.getAbsolutePath(), false);
+        list = new TreeWordList(inputFile.getAbsolutePath(), dictRemoveWS);
       } catch (IOException e) {
         handleError("Error generating twl.", e);
       }