diff --git a/py-polars/polars/_typing.py b/py-polars/polars/_typing.py
index ea6284cda9c9..88a0882e5679 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/_typing.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/_typing.py
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ def fetchmany(self, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
 # LazyFrame engine selection
 EngineType: TypeAlias = Union[Literal["cpu", "gpu"], "GPUEngine"]
 
-ScanSource: TypeAlias = Union[
+FileSource: TypeAlias = Union[
     str,
     Path,
     IO[bytes],
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/avro.py b/py-polars/polars/io/avro.py
index 087c7660dc11..25baa5be3147 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/avro.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/avro.py
@@ -29,9 +29,8 @@ def read_avro(
     source
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
-        function, or a `BytesIO` instance).
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        function, or a `BytesIO` instance). For file-like objects, the stream position
+        may not be updated accordingly after reading.
     columns
         Columns to select. Accepts a list of column indices (starting at zero) or a list
         of column names.
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/csv/functions.py b/py-polars/polars/io/csv/functions.py
index cd543fc659cb..3296af2fdaa7 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/csv/functions.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/csv/functions.py
@@ -90,9 +90,8 @@ def read_csv(
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
         function, or a `BytesIO` instance). If `fsspec` is installed, it will be used
-        to open remote files.
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        to open remote files. For file-like objects, the stream position may not be
+        updated accordingly after reading.
     has_header
         Indicate if the first row of the dataset is a header or not. If set to False,
         column names will be autogenerated in the following format: `column_x`, with
@@ -764,9 +763,8 @@ def read_csv_batched(
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
         function, or a `BytesIO` instance). If `fsspec` is installed, it will be used
-        to open remote files.
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        to open remote files. For file-like objects, the stream position may not be
+        updated accordingly after reading.
     has_header
         Indicate if the first row of the dataset is a header or not. If set to False,
         column names will be autogenerated in the following format: `column_x`, with
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/ipc/functions.py b/py-polars/polars/io/ipc/functions.py
index b8af12ae8806..984ec54d966f 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/ipc/functions.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/ipc/functions.py
@@ -62,9 +62,8 @@ def read_ipc(
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
         function, or a `BytesIO` instance). If `fsspec` is installed, it will be used
-        to open remote files.
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        to open remote files. For file-like objects, the stream position may not be
+        updated accordingly after reading.
     columns
         Columns to select. Accepts a list of column indices (starting at zero) or a list
         of column names.
@@ -241,9 +240,8 @@ def read_ipc_stream(
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
         function, or a `BytesIO` instance). If `fsspec` is installed, it will be used
-        to open remote files.
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        to open remote files. For file-like objects, the stream position may not be
+        updated accordingly after reading.
     columns
         Columns to select. Accepts a list of column indices (starting at zero) or a list
         of column names.
@@ -331,9 +329,8 @@ def read_ipc_schema(source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes) -> dict[str, DataTyp
     source
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
-        function, or a `BytesIO` instance).
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        function, or a `BytesIO` instance). For file-like objects, the stream position
+        may not be updated accordingly after reading.
 
     Returns
     -------
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/json/read.py b/py-polars/polars/io/json/read.py
index ef7c5c9494b1..79862f80feb5 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/json/read.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/json/read.py
@@ -34,9 +34,8 @@ def read_json(
     source
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
-        function, or a `BytesIO` instance).
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        function, or a `BytesIO` instance). For file-like objects, the stream position
+        may not be updated accordingly after reading.
     schema : Sequence of str, (str,DataType) pairs, or a {str:DataType,} dict
         The DataFrame schema may be declared in several ways:
 
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/ndjson.py b/py-polars/polars/io/ndjson.py
index 7da4635408d1..445889712244 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/ndjson.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/ndjson.py
@@ -51,9 +51,8 @@ def read_ndjson(
     source
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
-        function, or a `BytesIO` instance).
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        function, or a `BytesIO` instance). For file-like objects, the stream position
+        may not be updated accordingly after reading.
     schema : Sequence of str, (str,DataType) pairs, or a {str:DataType,} dict
         The DataFrame schema may be declared in several ways:
 
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/parquet/functions.py b/py-polars/polars/io/parquet/functions.py
index 0cc91a94693f..7080738e2e84 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/parquet/functions.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/parquet/functions.py
@@ -31,14 +31,14 @@
     from typing import Literal
 
     from polars import DataFrame, DataType, LazyFrame
-    from polars._typing import ParallelStrategy, ScanSource, SchemaDict
+    from polars._typing import FileSource, ParallelStrategy, SchemaDict
     from polars.io.cloud import CredentialProviderFunction
 
 
 @deprecate_renamed_parameter("row_count_name", "row_index_name", version="0.20.4")
 @deprecate_renamed_parameter("row_count_offset", "row_index_offset", version="0.20.4")
 def read_parquet(
-    source: ScanSource,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     columns: list[int] | list[str] | None = None,
     n_rows: int | None = None,
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ def read_parquet(
 
         File-like objects are supported (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
-        function, or a `BytesIO` instance) For file-like objects, stream position
+        function, or a `BytesIO` instance). For file-like objects, the stream position
         may not be updated accordingly after reading.
     columns
         Columns to select. Accepts a list of column indices (starting at zero) or a list
@@ -304,9 +304,8 @@ def read_parquet_schema(source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes) -> dict[str, Dat
     source
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
-        function, or a `BytesIO` instance).
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        function, or a `BytesIO` instance). For file-like objects, the stream position
+        may not be updated accordingly after reading.
 
     Returns
     -------
@@ -322,7 +321,7 @@ def read_parquet_schema(source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes) -> dict[str, Dat
 @deprecate_renamed_parameter("row_count_name", "row_index_name", version="0.20.4")
 @deprecate_renamed_parameter("row_count_offset", "row_index_offset", version="0.20.4")
 def scan_parquet(
-    source: ScanSource,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     n_rows: int | None = None,
     row_index_name: str | None = None,
diff --git a/py-polars/polars/io/spreadsheet/functions.py b/py-polars/polars/io/spreadsheet/functions.py
index ecce10d34d72..700d3e5cea13 100644
--- a/py-polars/polars/io/spreadsheet/functions.py
+++ b/py-polars/polars/io/spreadsheet/functions.py
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 import warnings
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from datetime import time
+from glob import glob
 from io import BufferedReader, BytesIO, StringIO, TextIOWrapper
+from os import PathLike
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import IO, TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, NoReturn, overload
 
@@ -34,18 +36,38 @@
     NoDataError,
     ParameterCollisionError,
 )
+from polars.functions import concat
 from polars.io._utils import looks_like_url, process_file_url
 from polars.io.csv.functions import read_csv
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from typing import Literal
 
-    from polars._typing import ExcelSpreadsheetEngine, SchemaDict
+    from polars._typing import ExcelSpreadsheetEngine, FileSource, SchemaDict
+
+
+def _sources(
+    source: FileSource,
+) -> tuple[Any, bool]:
+    read_multiple_workbooks = True
+    sources: list[Any] = []
+
+    if not isinstance(source, Sequence) or isinstance(source, str):
+        read_multiple_workbooks = False
+        source = [source]  # type: ignore[assignment]
+
+    for src in source:  # type: ignore[union-attr]
+        if isinstance(src, (str, PathLike)) and not Path(src).exists():
+            sources.extend(glob(str(src), recursive=True))  # noqa: PTH207
+        else:
+            sources.append(src)
+
+    return sources, read_multiple_workbooks
 
 
 @overload
 def read_excel(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: None = ...,
     sheet_name: str,
@@ -63,7 +85,7 @@ def read_excel(
 
 @overload
 def read_excel(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: None = ...,
     sheet_name: None = ...,
@@ -81,7 +103,7 @@ def read_excel(
 
 @overload
 def read_excel(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: int,
     sheet_name: str,
@@ -101,7 +123,7 @@ def read_excel(
 # Literal[0] overlaps with the return value for other integers
 @overload  # type: ignore[overload-overlap]
 def read_excel(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: Literal[0] | Sequence[int],
     sheet_name: None = ...,
@@ -119,7 +141,7 @@ def read_excel(
 
 @overload
 def read_excel(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: int,
     sheet_name: None = ...,
@@ -137,7 +159,7 @@ def read_excel(
 
 @overload
 def read_excel(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: None,
     sheet_name: list[str] | tuple[str],
@@ -156,7 +178,7 @@ def read_excel(
 @deprecate_renamed_parameter("xlsx2csv_options", "engine_options", version="0.20.6")
 @deprecate_renamed_parameter("read_csv_options", "read_options", version="0.20.7")
 def read_excel(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: int | Sequence[int] | None = None,
     sheet_name: str | list[str] | tuple[str] | None = None,
@@ -173,6 +195,8 @@ def read_excel(
     """
     Read Excel spreadsheet data into a DataFrame.
 
+    .. versionadded:: 1.18
+        Support loading data from a list (or glob pattern) of multiple workbooks.
     .. versionchanged:: 1.0
         Default engine is now "calamine" (was "xlsx2csv").
     .. versionadded:: 0.20.6
@@ -183,18 +207,17 @@ def read_excel(
     Parameters
     ----------
     source
-        Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
-        that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
-        function, or a `BytesIO` instance).
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        Path(s) to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to
+        objects that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin
+        `open` function, or a `BytesIO` instance). For file-like objects, the stream
+        position may not be updated after reading.
     sheet_id
         Sheet number(s) to convert (set `0` to load all sheets as DataFrames) and
         return a `{sheetname:frame,}` dict. (Defaults to `1` if neither this nor
         `sheet_name` are specified). Can also take a sequence of sheet numbers.
     sheet_name
-        Sheet name(s) to convert; cannot be used in conjunction with `sheet_id`. If more
-        than one is given then a `{sheetname:frame,}` dict is returned.
+        Sheet name(s) to convert; cannot be used in conjunction with `sheet_id`. If
+        more than one is given then a `{sheetname:frame,}` dict is returned.
     engine : {'calamine', 'xlsx2csv', 'openpyxl'}
         Library used to parse the spreadsheet file; defaults to "calamine".
 
@@ -297,25 +320,33 @@ def read_excel(
     ...     read_options={"has_header": False, "new_columns": ["a", "b", "c"]},
     ... )  # doctest: +SKIP
     """
-    return _read_spreadsheet(
-        sheet_id,
-        sheet_name,
-        source=source,
-        engine=engine,
-        engine_options=engine_options,
-        read_options=read_options,
-        schema_overrides=schema_overrides,
-        infer_schema_length=infer_schema_length,
-        raise_if_empty=raise_if_empty,
-        has_header=has_header,
-        columns=columns,
-        drop_empty_rows=drop_empty_rows,
-    )
+    sources, read_multiple_workbooks = _sources(source)
+    frames = [
+        _read_spreadsheet(
+            src,
+            sheet_id=sheet_id,
+            sheet_name=sheet_name,
+            engine=engine,
+            engine_options=engine_options,
+            read_options=read_options,
+            schema_overrides=schema_overrides,
+            infer_schema_length=infer_schema_length,
+            raise_if_empty=raise_if_empty,
+            has_header=has_header,
+            columns=columns,
+            drop_empty_rows=drop_empty_rows,
+            read_multiple_workbooks=read_multiple_workbooks,
+        )
+        for src in sources
+    ]
+    if read_multiple_workbooks:
+        return concat(frames, how="vertical_relaxed")  # type: ignore[type-var]
+    return frames[0]
 
 
 @overload
 def read_ods(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: None = ...,
     sheet_name: str,
@@ -330,7 +361,7 @@ def read_ods(
 
 @overload
 def read_ods(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: None = ...,
     sheet_name: None = ...,
@@ -345,7 +376,7 @@ def read_ods(
 
 @overload
 def read_ods(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: int,
     sheet_name: str,
@@ -360,7 +391,7 @@ def read_ods(
 
 @overload  # type: ignore[overload-overlap]
 def read_ods(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: Literal[0] | Sequence[int],
     sheet_name: None = ...,
@@ -375,7 +406,7 @@ def read_ods(
 
 @overload
 def read_ods(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: int,
     sheet_name: None = ...,
@@ -390,7 +421,7 @@ def read_ods(
 
 @overload
 def read_ods(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: None,
     sheet_name: list[str] | tuple[str],
@@ -404,7 +435,7 @@ def read_ods(
 
 
 def read_ods(
-    source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    source: FileSource,
     *,
     sheet_id: int | Sequence[int] | None = None,
     sheet_name: str | list[str] | tuple[str] | None = None,
@@ -423,9 +454,8 @@ def read_ods(
     source
         Path to a file or a file-like object (by "file-like object" we refer to objects
         that have a `read()` method, such as a file handler like the builtin `open`
-        function, or a `BytesIO` instance).
-        For file-like objects,
-        stream position may not be updated accordingly after reading.
+        function, or a `BytesIO` instance). For file-like objects, the stream position
+        may not be updated accordingly after reading.
     sheet_id
         Sheet number(s) to convert, starting from 1 (set `0` to load *all* worksheets
         as DataFrames) and return a `{sheetname:frame,}` dict. (Defaults to `1` if
@@ -480,27 +510,35 @@ def read_ods(
     ...     raise_if_empty=False,
     ... )  # doctest: +SKIP
     """
-    return _read_spreadsheet(
-        sheet_id,
-        sheet_name,
-        source=source,
-        engine="calamine",
-        engine_options={},
-        read_options=None,
-        schema_overrides=schema_overrides,
-        infer_schema_length=infer_schema_length,
-        raise_if_empty=raise_if_empty,
-        drop_empty_rows=drop_empty_rows,
-        has_header=has_header,
-        columns=columns,
-    )
+    sources, read_multiple_workbooks = _sources(source)
+    frames = [
+        _read_spreadsheet(
+            src,
+            sheet_id=sheet_id,
+            sheet_name=sheet_name,
+            engine="calamine",
+            engine_options={},
+            read_options=None,
+            schema_overrides=schema_overrides,
+            infer_schema_length=infer_schema_length,
+            raise_if_empty=raise_if_empty,
+            drop_empty_rows=drop_empty_rows,
+            has_header=has_header,
+            columns=columns,
+            read_multiple_workbooks=read_multiple_workbooks,
+        )
+        for src in sources
+    ]
+    if read_multiple_workbooks:
+        return concat(frames, how="vertical_relaxed")  # type: ignore[type-var]
+    return frames[0]
 
 
 def _read_spreadsheet(
-    sheet_id: int | Sequence[int] | None,
-    sheet_name: str | list[str] | tuple[str] | None,
-    *,
     source: str | Path | IO[bytes] | bytes,
+    *,
+    sheet_id: int | Sequence[int] | None,
+    sheet_name: str | Sequence[str] | None,
     engine: ExcelSpreadsheetEngine,
     engine_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     read_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
@@ -510,6 +548,7 @@ def _read_spreadsheet(
     has_header: bool = True,
     raise_if_empty: bool = True,
     drop_empty_rows: bool = True,
+    read_multiple_workbooks: bool = False,
 ) -> pl.DataFrame | dict[str, pl.DataFrame]:
     if isinstance(source, (str, Path)):
         source = normalize_filepath(source)
@@ -532,7 +571,13 @@ def _read_spreadsheet(
     )
     try:
         # parse data from the indicated sheet(s)
-        sheet_names, return_multi = _get_sheet_names(sheet_id, sheet_name, worksheets)
+        sheet_names, return_multiple_sheets = _get_sheet_names(
+            sheet_id, sheet_name, worksheets
+        )
+        if read_multiple_workbooks and return_multiple_sheets:
+            msg = "cannot return multiple sheets from multiple workbooks"
+            raise ValueError(msg)
+
         parsed_sheets = {
             name: reader_fn(
                 parser=parser,
@@ -554,7 +599,7 @@ def _read_spreadsheet(
         msg = f"no matching sheets found when `sheet_{param}` is {value!r}"
         raise ValueError(msg)
 
-    if return_multi:
+    if return_multiple_sheets:
         return parsed_sheets
     return next(iter(parsed_sheets.values()))
 
@@ -614,7 +659,7 @@ def _get_read_options(
 
 def _get_sheet_names(
     sheet_id: int | Sequence[int] | None,
-    sheet_name: str | list[str] | tuple[str] | None,
+    sheet_name: str | Sequence[str] | None,
     worksheets: list[dict[str, Any]],
 ) -> tuple[list[str], bool]:
     """Establish sheets to read; indicate if we are returning a dict frames."""
@@ -625,12 +670,12 @@ def _get_sheet_names(
     sheet_names = []
     if sheet_id is None and sheet_name is None:
         sheet_names.append(worksheets[0]["name"])
-        return_multi = False
+        return_multiple_sheets = False
     elif sheet_id == 0:
         sheet_names.extend(ws["name"] for ws in worksheets)
-        return_multi = True
+        return_multiple_sheets = True
     else:
-        return_multi = (
+        return_multiple_sheets = (
             (isinstance(sheet_name, Sequence) and not isinstance(sheet_name, str))
             or isinstance(sheet_id, Sequence)
             or sheet_id == 0
@@ -656,7 +701,7 @@ def _get_sheet_names(
                     msg = f"no matching sheet found when `sheet_id` is {idx}"
                     raise ValueError(msg)
                 sheet_names.append(name)
-    return sheet_names, return_multi
+    return sheet_names, return_multiple_sheets
 
 
 def _initialise_spreadsheet_parser(
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_spreadsheet.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_spreadsheet.py
index fadefa246c2c..2bfc830c4712 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_spreadsheet.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_spreadsheet.py
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ def test_read_spreadsheet(
         (pl.read_ods, "path_ods", {}),
     ],
 )
-def test_read_excel_multi_sheets(
+def test_read_excel_multiple_worksheets(
     read_spreadsheet: Callable[..., dict[str, pl.DataFrame]],
     source: str,
     params: dict[str, str],
@@ -168,6 +168,45 @@ def test_read_excel_multi_sheets(
         assert_frame_equal(frames["test2"], expected2)
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ("read_spreadsheet", "source", "params"),
+    [
+        # xls file
+        (pl.read_excel, "path_xls", {"engine": "calamine"}),
+        # xlsx file
+        (pl.read_excel, "path_xlsx", {"engine": "xlsx2csv"}),
+        (pl.read_excel, "path_xlsx", {"engine": "openpyxl"}),
+        (pl.read_excel, "path_xlsx", {"engine": "calamine"}),
+        # xlsb file (binary)
+        (pl.read_excel, "path_xlsb", {"engine": "calamine"}),
+        # open document
+        (pl.read_ods, "path_ods", {}),
+    ],
+)
+def test_read_excel_multiple_workbooks(
+    read_spreadsheet: Callable[..., pl.DataFrame],
+    source: str,
+    params: dict[str, str],
+    request: pytest.FixtureRequest,
+) -> None:
+    spreadsheet_path = request.getfixturevalue(source)
+
+    df = read_spreadsheet(
+        [
+            spreadsheet_path,
+            spreadsheet_path,
+            spreadsheet_path,
+        ],
+        sheet_id=None,
+        sheet_name="test1",
+        **params,
+    )
+    expected = pl.DataFrame(
+        {"hello": ["Row 1", "Row 2", "Row 1", "Row 2", "Row 1", "Row 2"]}
+    )
+    assert_frame_equal(df, expected)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ("read_spreadsheet", "source", "params"),
     [