The words braes, braise, brays, braze sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do braes, braise, brays, braze sound the same even though they are completely different words?
The answer is simple: braes, braise, brays, braze are homophones of the English language.
To cook (meat or vegetables) by browning in fat, then simmering in a small quantity of liquid in a covered container.
Plural form of bray.
To make of or decorate with brass.
To make hard like brass.
To solder (two pieces of metal) together using a hard solder with a high melting point.
Definitions , from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition, from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 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").