diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/spreadsheet/functions.py b/py-polars/polars/io/spreadsheet/functions.py
index 96aaf78d90dd..0d94f5ba9bad 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/spreadsheet/functions.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/spreadsheet/functions.py
@@ -403,11 +403,6 @@ def _read_spreadsheet(
     *,
     raise_if_empty: bool = True,
 ) -> pl.DataFrame | dict[str, pl.DataFrame]:
-    if sheet_id is not None and sheet_name is not None:
-        raise ValueError(
-            f"cannot specify both `sheet_name` ({sheet_name!r}) and `sheet_id` ({sheet_id!r})"
-        )
-
     if isinstance(source, (str, Path)):
         source = normalize_filepath(source)
 
@@ -421,27 +416,9 @@ def _read_spreadsheet(
     reader_fn, parser, worksheets = _initialise_spreadsheet_parser(
         engine, source, engine_options or {}
     )
-
-    # determine which named worksheets to read
-    if sheet_id is None and sheet_name is None:
-        sheet_names = [worksheets[0]["name"]]
-        return_multi = False
-    else:
-        return_multi = (
-            sheet_id == 0
-            or isinstance(sheet_id, Sequence)
-            or (isinstance(sheet_name, Sequence) and not isinstance(sheet_name, str))
-        )
-        ids = (sheet_id,) if isinstance(sheet_id, int) else sheet_id or ()
-        names = (sheet_name,) if isinstance(sheet_name, str) else sheet_name or ()
-        sheet_names = [
-            ws["name"]
-            for ws in worksheets
-            if (sheet_id == 0 or ws["index"] in ids or ws["name"] in names)
-        ]
-
-    # read data from the indicated sheet(s)
     try:
+        # parse data from the indicated sheet(s)
+        sheet_names, return_multi = _get_sheet_names(sheet_id, sheet_name, worksheets)
         parsed_sheets = {
             name: reader_fn(
                 parser=parser,
@@ -465,6 +442,55 @@ def _read_spreadsheet(
     return next(iter(parsed_sheets.values()))
 
 
+def _get_sheet_names(
+    sheet_id: int | Sequence[int] | None,
+    sheet_name: str | list[str] | tuple[str] | None,
+    worksheets: list[dict[str, Any]],
+) -> tuple[list[str], bool]:
+    """Establish sheets to read; indicate if we are returning a dict frames."""
+    if sheet_id is not None and sheet_name is not None:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"cannot specify both `sheet_name` ({sheet_name!r}) and `sheet_id` ({sheet_id!r})"
+        )
+    sheet_names = []
+    if sheet_id is None and sheet_name is None:
+        sheet_names.append(worksheets[0]["name"])
+        return_multi = False
+    elif sheet_id == 0:
+        sheet_names.extend(ws["name"] for ws in worksheets)
+        return_multi = True
+    else:
+        return_multi = (
+            (isinstance(sheet_name, Sequence) and not isinstance(sheet_name, str))
+            or isinstance(sheet_id, Sequence)
+            or sheet_id == 0
+        )
+        if names := (
+            (sheet_name,) if isinstance(sheet_name, str) else sheet_name or ()
+        ):
+            known_sheet_names = {ws["name"] for ws in worksheets}
+            for name in names:
+                if name not in known_sheet_names:
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        f"no matching sheet found when `sheet_name` is {name!r}"
+                    )
+                sheet_names.append(name)
+        else:
+            ids = (sheet_id,) if isinstance(sheet_id, int) else sheet_id or ()
+            sheet_names_by_idx = {
+                idx: ws["name"]
+                for idx, ws in enumerate(worksheets, start=1)
+                if (sheet_id == 0 or ws["index"] in ids or ws["name"] in names)
+            }
+            for idx in ids:
+                if (name := sheet_names_by_idx.get(idx)) is None:  # type: ignore[assignment]
+                    raise ValueError(
+                        f"no matching sheet found when `sheet_id` is {idx}"
+                    )
+                sheet_names.append(name)
+    return sheet_names, return_multi
+
+
 def _initialise_spreadsheet_parser(
     engine: Literal["xlsx2csv", "openpyxl", "pyxlsb", "ods"],
     source: str | BytesIO | Path | BinaryIO | bytes,
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_spreadsheet.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_spreadsheet.py
index a58c5f90cfaa..36af7460ac6f 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_spreadsheet.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_spreadsheet.py
@@ -100,18 +100,18 @@ def test_read_excel_multi_sheets(
     spreadsheet_path = request.getfixturevalue(source)
     frames_by_id = read_spreadsheet(
         spreadsheet_path,
-        sheet_id=[1, 2],
+        sheet_id=[2, 1],
         sheet_name=None,
         **params,
     )
     frames_by_name = read_spreadsheet(
         spreadsheet_path,
         sheet_id=None,
-        sheet_name=["test1", "test2"],
+        sheet_name=["test2", "test1"],
         **params,
     )
     for frames in (frames_by_id, frames_by_name):
-        assert len(frames) == 2
+        assert list(frames_by_name) == ["test2", "test1"]
 
         expected1 = pl.DataFrame({"hello": ["Row 1", "Row 2"]})
         expected2 = pl.DataFrame({"world": ["Row 3", "Row 4"]})
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ def test_read_invalid_worksheet(
         value = sheet_id if param == "id" else sheet_name
         with pytest.raises(
             ValueError,
-            match=f"no matching sheets found when `sheet_{param}` is {value!r}",
+            match=f"no matching sheet found when `sheet_{param}` is {value!r}",
         ):
             read_spreadsheet(
                 spreadsheet_path, sheet_id=sheet_id, sheet_name=sheet_name, **params