Thanks Souriane,
The lead was very helpful. I did a search and found a more detailed explanation and enabled the
Confirm file format conversion on open check box (File > Options > Advanced> General) in MS Word.
That did the trick. Now all the spreadsheet content appears in the merged table output. I found this explanation most helpful:
https://goo.gl/7sqfuO. If others are having similar a similar problem, start with this link.
Cheers,