ait, ate, eight

The words ait, ate, eight sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do ait, ate, eight sound the same even though they are completely different words?

The answer is simple: ait, ate, eight are homophones of the English language.

ait
  1. :: noun

    Chiefly British A small island.

ate
  1. :: verb

    Past tense of eat.

eight
  1. :: noun

    The cardinal number equal to 7 + 1.

  2. :: noun

    The eighth in a set or sequence.

  3. :: noun

    Something having eight parts, units, or members, especially:

  4. :: noun

    Sports An eight-oared racing shell.

Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition and Wordnik.

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About Homophones

Homophones (literally "same sound") are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled.

If they are spelled the same then they are also homographs (and homonyms); if they are spelled differently then they are also heterographs (literally "different writing").