π¬ Question: How to return one or multiple arguments from a Python function?
Basically, creating a function that reflects one or more arguments like a mirror:

Let’s find out! π
Method 1: Return Single Argument
A function can return a single argument by passing that argument variable after the return
keyword. If the argument name is arg
, you can return that argument from the function using return arg
.
Here’s an example:
def f(a): return a print(f(1)) # 1 print(f(2)) # 2 print(f('Alice')) # Alice
Method 2: Return Multiple Arguments
A function can return a fixed number of arguments as a tuple by passing the argument variables after the return
keyword. If the argument names are a
, b
, and c
, you can return those arguments from the function using return a, b, c
. This implicitly creates a tuple, i.e., it’s the same as return (a, b, c)
.
Here’s an example where we return three arguments:
def f(a, b, c): return a, b, c print(f(1,2,3)) # (1, 2, 3)
π Recommended Tutorial: How to Return a Tuple from a Python Function?
Method 3: Use Asterisk Operator
A function can return a variable and dynamic number of arguments as a tuple by capturing all arguments using the *args
asterisk approach in the parameter list and passing the argument variables after the return args
keyword. This implicitly creates a tuple, i.e., it’s the same as return (a, b, c)
.
Here’s an example where we return an arbitrary number of arguments as decided dynamically at runtime by the caller of the function:
def f(*args): return args a, b, c = f('hello', 42, 3.14) print(a) print(b) print(c)
The output is:
hello 42 3.14
π Recommended Tutorial: The Asterisk Operator in Python
What is the type of the function output? It’s a tuple like before:
print(type(f(1, 2, 3, 4, 5))) # <class 'tuple'>
π Recommended Tutorial: Multiple Assignment Operator
Method 4: Return Arbitrary Keyword Arguments From a Python Function
Now, this may be new for you if you are not already a super skilled Python coder.
To return an arbitrary number of keyword arguments from a Python function, you can capture the keyword arguments in a dictionary using the double-asterisk operator **kwargs
and then return that dictionary using return kwargs
.
Here’s what I mean:
def f(**kwargs): return kwargs print(f(alice=18, bob=24, carl=30)) # {'alice': 18, 'bob': 24, 'carl': 30}
If this is all greek to you, I’d recommend you check out the fulling in-depth Python guide and keep improving your coding skills:
π Recommended Tutorial: Python Double Asterisk Operator
Summary
You can return one or multiple argument values from a Python function by specifying them, comma-separated, right after the return
keyword. This implicitly creates a tuple of argument values that can then be captured by a multiple assignment expression or by a single tuple assignment.
Thanks for reading through the whole article! Feel free to keep learning and improving your skills by joining our email academy. it’s free!
Programming Humor – Python
