The words bruit, brut, brute sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do bruit, brut, brute sound the same even though they are completely different words?
The answer is simple: bruit, brut, brute are homophones of the English language.
To spread news of; repeat.
Medicine An abnormal sound heard in auscultation.
Archaic A rumor.
Archaic A din; a clamor.
Very dry. Used of champagne.
An animal; a beast.
A brutal, crude, or insensitive person.
Of or relating to beasts; animal: "None of the brute creation requires more than food and shelter” ( Henry David Thoreau).
Characteristic of a brute, especially:
Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition and Wordnik.
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").