diff --git a/Classes/PHPWord/Template.php b/Classes/PHPWord/Template.php
index 3adb44a4..28608348 100755
--- a/Classes/PHPWord/Template.php
+++ b/Classes/PHPWord/Template.php
@@ -121,35 +121,90 @@ class PHPWord_Template
         preg_match_all('/\$\{(.*?)}/i', $this->_documentXML, $matches);
         return $matches[1];
     }
-    
+
+    /**
+     * Find the start position of the nearest table row before $offset
+     * 
+     * @param mixed $offset
+     */
+    private function _findRowStart($offset) {
+        return strrpos($this->_documentXML, "<w:tr ", ((strlen($this->_documentXML) - $offset) * -1));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Find the end position of the nearest table row after $offset
+     * 
+     * @param mixed $offset
+     */
+    private function _findRowEnd($offset) {
+        return strpos($this->_documentXML, "</w:tr>", $offset) + 7;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get a slice of a string
+     * 
+     * @param mixed $offset
+     */
+    private function _getSlice($startPosition, $endPosition = 0) {
+        if (!$endPosition) {
+            $endPosition = strlen($this->_documentXML);
+        }
+        return substr($this->_documentXML, $startPosition, ($endPosition - $startPosition));
+    }
+
     /**
      * Clone a table row in a template document
      * 
      * @param mixed $search
      * @param mixed $numberOfClones
      */
-	public function cloneRow($search, $numberOfClones) {
+    public function cloneRow($search, $numberOfClones) {
         if(substr($search, 0, 2) !== '${' && substr($search, -1) !== '}') {
             $search = '${'.$search.'}';
         }
         		
-		$tagPos = strpos($this->_documentXML, $search);
+        $tagPos = strpos($this->_documentXML, $search);
 		if (!$tagPos) {
 			trigger_error("Can not clone row, template variable not found or variable contains markup.");
 			return false;
 		}
-		$rowStartPos = strrpos($this->_documentXML, "<w:tr ", ((strlen($this->_documentXML) - $tagPos) * -1));
-		$rowEndPos   = strpos($this->_documentXML, "</w:tr>", $tagPos) + 7;
-
-		$result = substr($this->_documentXML, 0, $rowStartPos);
-		$xmlRow = substr($this->_documentXML, $rowStartPos, ($rowEndPos - $rowStartPos));
+    
+        $rowStart = $this->_findRowStart($tagPos);
+        $rowEnd   = $this->_findRowEnd($tagPos);
+        $xmlRow   = $this->_getSlice($rowStart, $rowEnd);
+    
+        // Check if there's a cell spanning multiple rows.
+        if (preg_match('#<w:vMerge w:val="restart"/>#', $xmlRow)) {
+            $extraRowStart  = $rowEnd;
+            $extraRowEnd    = $rowEnd;
+            while(true) {
+                $extraRowStart  = $this->_findRowStart($extraRowEnd + 1);
+                $extraRowEnd    = $this->_findRowEnd($extraRowEnd + 1);
+                
+                // If extraRowEnd is lower then 7, there was no next row found.
+                if ($extraRowEnd < 7) {
+                    break;
+                }
+                
+                // If tmpXmlRow doesn't contain continue, this row is no longer part of the spanned row.
+                $tmpXmlRow  = $this->_getSlice($extraRowStart, $extraRowEnd);
+                if (!preg_match('#<w:vMerge/>#', $tmpXmlRow) && !preg_match('#<w:vMerge w:val="continue" />#', $tmpXmlRow)) {
+                    break;
+                }
+                // This row was a spanned row, update $rowEnd and search for the next row.
+                $rowEnd = $extraRowEnd;
+            } 
+            $xmlRow = $this->_getSlice($rowStart, $rowEnd);
+        }
+    
+        $result = $this->_getSlice(0, $rowStart);
 		for ($i = 1; $i <= $numberOfClones; $i++) {
-			$result .= preg_replace('/\$\{(.*?)\}/','\${\\1#'.$i.'}', $xmlRow);
+            $result .= preg_replace('/\$\{(.*?)\}/','\${\\1#'.$i.'}', $xmlRow);
 		}
-		$result .= substr($this->_documentXML, $rowEndPos);
-
+		$result .= $this->_getSlice($rowEnd);
+    
 		$this->_documentXML = $result;
-	}
+    }
 
     /**
      * Save Template
diff --git a/samples/Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.docx b/samples/Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.docx
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 909f27ab..25a8c418
Binary files a/samples/Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.docx and b/samples/Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.docx differ
diff --git a/samples/Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.php b/samples/Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.php
index 4806d6b7..2bbe2d5c 100755
--- a/samples/Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.php
+++ b/samples/Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ $PHPWord = new PHPWord();
 
 $document = $PHPWord->loadTemplate('Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow.docx');
 
+// Simple table
 $document->cloneRow('rowValue', 10);
 
 $document->setValue('rowValue#1', 'Sun');
@@ -32,4 +33,22 @@ $document->setValue('rowNumber#10', '10');
 $document->setValue('weekday', date('l'));
 $document->setValue('time', date('H:i'));
 
+// Table with a spanned cell
+$document->cloneRow('userId', 3);
+
+$document->setValue('userId#1', '1');
+$document->setValue('userFirstName#1', 'James');
+$document->setValue('userName#1', 'Taylor');
+$document->setValue('userPhone#1', '+1 428 889 773');
+
+$document->setValue('userId#2', '2');
+$document->setValue('userFirstName#2', 'Robert');
+$document->setValue('userName#2', 'Bell');
+$document->setValue('userPhone#2', '+1 428 889 774');
+
+$document->setValue('userId#3', '3');
+$document->setValue('userFirstName#3', 'Michael');
+$document->setValue('userName#3', 'Ray');
+$document->setValue('userPhone#3', '+1 428 889 775');
+
 $document->save('Sample_03_TemplateCloneRow_result.docx');