Copying combined shapes

Hello. So I have a couple basic shapes I made that overlap each other. Is the only way to copy both shapes at the same time to select both layers and use the selection/alt? Basically that just makes two more layers as copies. There's gotta be a simplier way to do this. I tried combining shapes so they were on one layer together but when I go to copy them only one shape copies - the other one just moves. It just seems like an excessive amount of layers just to duplicate a set of shapes that really I just want all on one layer. I can't find any articles that specifically explain what I am trying to do because I'd like to have it duplicated multiple times on the same layer. Thoughts?