I would start with defined risk verticals (where you know getting in what is the most you can lose).
There are 4 types of spreads. One example, if you are bullish, would be to sell an out of the money put, and then, to limit your risk buy a further out of the money put with the same expiration. The max you can lose is the difference between the 2 strikes minus the credit you get. That's called a bull put spread, but there are other names people use)
Selling a spreads makes the theta decay work in your favor (vs buying one).
For example, say you think the SPY is going to be higher on May 15, then you'd sell the May 15 250 put, and buy the May 15 247 put for a credit of $.44 (that's $44 given 1 option controls 100 shares), and your risk is $256 ($300 - $44). Which means you breakeven if the SPY closes 249.56, and make up to $44 if it closes above that. This is just to illustrate, not something I recommend you do! And if the market moves higher tomorrow, the credit will be smaller...
Once you get the hang of it, you could try Iron Condors (that's 2 verticals, one with puts, one with calls, but that's for an other day...). But there are hundreds of possibilities!
Tasty Trade has great explanations and tutorials that will cover the 4 types I mentioned above.