Embodiments described herein provide a method for performing multi-level coding in a discrete multitone modulation (DMT) communication system. A plurality of data bits are divided into a first numberof un-encoded bits and a set of bits to be encoded. The set of bits to be encoded are encoded into a second number of encoded bits. The first number is different from the second number, and the firstnumber is an even number or an odd number. The first number of un-encoded bits and the second number of encoded bits are mapped into a plurality of constellation points. The plurality of constellationpoints are transmitted as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.