diff --git a/daphne/cli.py b/daphne/cli.py
index e6e79b2..c700993 100755
--- a/daphne/cli.py
+++ b/daphne/cli.py
@@ -160,6 +160,13 @@ class CommandLineInterface:
         self.parser.add_argument(
             "--no-server-name", dest="server_name", action="store_const", const=""
         )
+        self.parser.add_argument(
+            "-w",
+            "--workers",
+            type=int,
+            help="Number of worker processes to spawn",
+            default=1,
+        )
 
         self.server = None
 
@@ -287,5 +294,6 @@ class CommandLineInterface:
                 "X-Forwarded-Proto" if args.proxy_headers else None
             ),
             server_name=args.server_name,
+            workers=args.workers,
         )
         self.server.run()
diff --git a/daphne/management/commands/runserver.py b/daphne/management/commands/runserver.py
index 7e67e07..af7e8f4 100644
--- a/daphne/management/commands/runserver.py
+++ b/daphne/management/commands/runserver.py
@@ -85,6 +85,14 @@ class Command(RunserverCommand):
             dest="insecure_serving",
             help="Allows serving static files even if DEBUG is False.",
         )
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "--workers",
+            action="store",
+            dest="workers",
+            type=int,
+            default=1,
+            help="Number of worker processes to spawn (default: 1)",
+        )
 
     def handle(self, *args, **options):
         self.http_timeout = options.get("http_timeout", None)
@@ -144,6 +152,7 @@ class Command(RunserverCommand):
                 http_timeout=self.http_timeout,
                 root_path=getattr(settings, "FORCE_SCRIPT_NAME", "") or "",
                 websocket_handshake_timeout=self.websocket_handshake_timeout,
+                workers=options["workers"],
             ).run()
             logger.debug("Daphne exited")
         except KeyboardInterrupt: