An extruder having an operative unit composed of a cylinder and at least two screw shafts which are rotatably accommodated therein, a gear unit having at least two output shafts, wherein each output shaft, via a connecting element, is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to one screw shaft, a motor which drives the gear unit and is coupled to the gear unit via a clutch, and a controller installation, wherein each connecting element or each output shaft is assigned a separate measuring installation for determining the applied torque, wherein the measuring installations communicate with the controller installation which, depending on the individual determined torques, controls the clutch which is implemented as a switchable clutch, wherein the controller installation is configured for opening the clutch both when a determined torque exceeds a torque limit value and also when the difference between the two determined torques exceeds a limit value.