I've taken a list of English words, and examined each of them to see what they sound like (using the PHP metaphone function). This page lists the most common metaphone codes, along with their words. You can also search for a word of your own, and see which words sound similar - and which ones rhyme, and which ones alliterate.
year yar yare yarrow yirr yore your
bear ear shear wear tear dear sear rear pear near lear gear hear fear year ar er