$re = '/(?s)(?<= ReturnVariable="xxx">\n<cfelse>\n)PATTERN(?=\n</cfif>)/';
$str = '<cfif IsDefined("REQUEST.<STRING>") xxx>
<cfmodule
template="xxx"
Service="xxx"
Action="xxx"
QueryString="xxx"
ReturnVariable="xxx">
<cfelse>
PATTERN
</cfif>';
preg_match_all($re, $str, $matches, PREG_SET_ORDER, 0);
// Print the entire match result
var_dump($matches);
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php