for my $row (1 .. $worksheet->row_range) { my $super_key = $worksheet->get_cell ($row, 0)->value; for my $col (0 .. 4) { my $key = $worksheet->get_cell (0, $col)->value; my $value = $worksheet->get_cell ($row, $col)->value; # here I am getting a problem # $student_data{$super_key}->{$key} = $value; } }