I'm teaching math to undergrads. The classes are taught in English, which is a second language for me.
In the middle of one class I've stumbled upon an unexpected problem: the inability to distinguish between "sign" and "sine". Sometimes it's evident from the context. Sometimes not. For example, if I'm saying to student "You forgot a /saɪn/ here", it can both mean "a sine (of x)" or "a (minus) sign".
Is there a way to make a clear distinction between these two homophones in spoken language, or should I just try my best to build unambiguous phrases?