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Pick TwoActivity

Multiple choice: how to write one

A1–C1Updated Live examples

Multiple choice asks students to pick one answer from three or four. Its real value is not the right answer — it is the wrong ones. A good distractor is a mistake your class actually makes, so the item tells you which misunderstanding is still there.

Also called

The same task goes by several names: MCQ, multiple choice questions, choose the correct answer, quiz questions. They all describe the exercise below, and this page uses multiple choice throughout.

What one item is made of

The stem
The question or sentence. It should be answerable before the student reads the options.
The key
The correct option. It must not be the longest or the most detailed — students notice.
The distractors
Two or three wrong options, each one a real mistake: a wrong tense, a first-language interference, a near-synonym.

When to use it

Works well at A1–C1. Reach for it when:

  • You want to find out which specific error a class is still making.
  • The target is meaning or word choice, where an open gap would accept too much.
  • You need something fast to mark and unambiguous to argue about.

Choose something else when:

  • You want production. Recognising the right form is a long way from writing it.
  • You cannot think of two genuinely wrong answers. One plausible distractor and two silly ones is a true-or-false question with extra steps.

How to write a multiple choice exercise

  1. Step 1:

    Start from an error, not a rule

    Look at your last set of marked work. The mistakes on the page are your distractors, already proven to be tempting.

  2. Step 2:

    Write the stem so it stands alone

    A student who knows the answer should be able to produce it before reading the options. If the stem makes no sense without them, it is a puzzle.

  3. Step 3:

    Make every option the same shape

    Same length, same register, same grammar. Options that look different get chosen for the wrong reason.

  4. Step 4:

    Use three options, not four

    A fourth option is usually filler, and filler is obvious. Three tight options test more than four loose ones.

  5. Step 5:

    Vary the position of the key

    If the answer is B four times running, students stop reading.

Mistakes teachers make

  • Not thisHe ____ football. a) plays b) is playing c) banana

    BetterHe ____ football every Saturday. a) plays b) is playing c) play

    An option nobody would choose is not a distractor. Every wrong answer should be a mistake somebody has made.

  • Not thisWhich is correct? a) She doesn’t like it b) She don’t like it

    BetterWhich is correct? a) She doesn’t like it b) She don’t like it c) She doesn’t likes it

    Two options is a coin flip. Three is the minimum that measures anything.

  • Not thisa) go b) going c) to go d) will be going to have gone

    Bettera) go b) going c) to go

    The longest, most elaborate option is almost never chosen, so it fills space without testing.

Try it: multiple choice examples

Real items, not screenshots. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class exactly as it is.

Five items. Each distractor below is a mistake real classes make, not filler.

Which sentence is correct?
Choose the correct question.
We ____ to Rome last April.
This is ____ film I have ever seen.
If I ____ you, I would take the job.

Variations worth knowing

Odd one out
Four words, three of which share a feature. Good for vocabulary sets and for pronunciation groups.
Which sentence is correct?
The whole sentence is the option. Slower to read, but it catches errors that a single-word gap hides.
Multiple-choice cloze
Options attached to each gap inside a continuous text. That is the open-cloze block with options filled in, and it is B2 First Reading and Use of English Part 1.

Grammar topics that suit this task

Where it appears in the Cambridge levels

Pick Two Activity is independent and not affiliated with Cambridge University Press & Assessment. These pages describe the level you are teaching towards; always check the official site for the current format.

Exam practice in this format

Frequently asked questions

Three options or four?

Three, unless you are mirroring an exam format that uses four. A fourth option is usually filler that nobody picks, and it costs reading time at every item.

How do I stop students guessing?

Write distractors from real errors and keep all options the same length and register. Guessing survives on surface clues: an odd-looking option, a suspiciously detailed answer, a pattern in the key.

Is multiple choice worth using at all?

Yes, for diagnosis. It shows you which wrong idea a class holds, which an open gap-fill does not. Follow it with a task that asks them to produce the form.