can't locate email addresses for distribution list

Wow! Distribution list support seems primitive - am I missing something?
The email addresses required for my distribution list are normally not email #1 in each contact - but they are all labelled ‘work’ and are available in the search box with no problem when writing an email.
When creating a distribution list, the search box will only show the first email of a contact.
Is there a way to do this without swapping the emails around in the contacts? Surely there is!