An embossing roller that both embosses and combines sheet materials such as paper or the like. The invention eliminates the need for separate embossing and combining operations. A relief pattern is defined on the surface of the roller such that the relief pattern can be embossed onto multiple ply sheet material by compressing the material against another surface. At least a portion of the raised surface of the roller that defines the relief pattern is provided with projections that combine the multiple plies of the multiple ply material.