Option three. [u]You need better gea[/u]r.

It's not expensive to achieve what you're seeking, and should be affordable to anyone who can afford to buy an electric guitar.

On a tight or uncommitted beginner budget, buy a [u]decent[/u] solid state mini-amp which will have options of headphone out, a clean/distortion toggle (switch) and sound which will amaze you with its sound for its wattage. e.g. Blackstar Fly 3 or BOSS Katana Mini, or this Fly 3 Stereo from Blackstar for the same price as the BOSS Katana Mini. These are not toys like previous generation Vox, Marshall et al still playing catch up. I own and use both Blackstar Fly 3 units, single and stereo combo.

[u]On practicing clean or dirty[/u]. Predominantly clean in the ab and post initio phases of learning.

[br]You want to assess your fingering aural fidelity and note definition of your notes and scales, forming of chords and transitioning within progressions cleanly so as to be able to analyse and correct as necessary. Whilst they're fun to use and applicable in their own right as tools and techniques to be learned, the obtuse wall of sound affected by applying high gain and/or effects e.g. delay, chorus, reverb, etc can individually or conjunctively aurally disguise and hide mistakes.

Save the gain for having fun at the end of practice after accomplishing the lesson/practice session objectives unless it is part of a practice session objective. e.g. Learning a song with fuzz or gain required to emulate the original's tone. e.g."Satisfaction" single note riff. N.B. Fuzz ref at 57s in that vid hotlink.