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 number of 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 first number 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 constellation points are transmitted as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.