formulating an idiomatic multiple-choice question

Question

Is it idiomatic to say "What is a toy from the East?" (meaning "Which toy comes from the East?") in a multiple choice quiz? For example:

What is a toy from the East?

1. top

2. butterfly

3. blocks

Or will it sound a bit off?

Answer 1

A) What is a toy from the East? [Grammar FINE, meaning, NOT FINE, for the multiple choice given.

• A top

• A butterfly

• Blocks

To answer A), you have to say something like: A toy from the East is Oriental.

• What is a toy from the East?

It is:

• Oriental
• Asian
• Indonesian
• None of the above
• Very cute
• A top, a butterfly, blocks [all unlikely but grammatically possible].

B) Which one (or Which [of these]) is a toy from the East? [Grammar, FINE. Meaning: Asks for the object to be pointed out by a person. This one or that one or A top, A butterfly or Blocks.

This one or that one or x is/are a toy from the East.

• A top

• A butterfly

• Blocks

To answer B), you have to point out or identify which options work for a toy from the East by ticking a box or pointing to it. It is not about identifying the nature of the object as What is does.

Asking what is/what are is not exactly the same as Which is/are or Which one is/Which one are.

Conclusion: "What is/are" questions are not the same as "Which one/Which is/are" questions.

Answer 2

Which toy is from the East?

or

Which is a toy from the East?

The former implies all options are toys, the latter suggests there might be different sorts of things with a toy among them.

Which is preferable over what when there is a fixed set of options.