If you're using any version of AppleWorks before 6.2, you're running the OS 8/9 version. OS X support wasn't added until 6.2. The best versions for use in OS X are 6.2.4 or 6.2.9. Since AppleWorks was designated "end-of-life" it is difficult to find the updaters (especially the US/North American) on Apple's site. Here is the page with the links I have for the 6.2.9 updater. The page has a link to the North American updater in the upper right (the blue 15.8 MB) & links to other languages further down.
AppleWorks 6.2.9 for Mac
Whenever you do an update, it's a good idea to do two maintenance tasks, one for the system (Repair Permissions) and one for AppleWorks (delete preferences). (Thanks to Barry for this way to format this very common answer.)
To Repair permissions, launch Disk Utility, found in the Utilities folder in your Applications folder, click on First Aid, then on Repair Permissions.
To delete AppleWorks’ preference files, go to HD > Users > (your account) > Library > Preferences. Find and delete the file com.apple.appleworks.plist. Find and open the folder AppleWorks in this Preferences folder, then delete all of the enclosed files (with the exception of the Button Bar Preferences if you have customized the Button Bars). AppleWorks will recreate the preference files as it needs them.