Fun stuff for the native speaker

What do fat, egg and fever have in common? They are all pronounced the same, with a slight (to me anyway) variation in tone. How about dog, friend and hand? The same! What might provide the native speaker with the makings for a fun word game - they tend to frustrate the language learner, i.e. us. :)

We spent five weeks in a formal language class setting and four weeks with our next door neighbor as a tutuor. How's it going you ask. Slow, I reply.