# Example usage (one variable): variable="one shell\nvariable" awk -v var="$variable" 'BEGIN {print var}' --> one shell --> variable # Example usage (multiple variables): var1="multiple" var2="shell" var3="variables" awk -v a="$var1" -v b="$var2" -v c="$var3" 'BEGIN {print a,b,c}' --> multiple shell variables