What’s the difference between bare and bear?

Bare (A, R, E) means naked, without, or exposed. So you do something with your bare (naked) hands. You bare (expose) your heart or secrets. You need to go grocery shopping when your pantry is bare (without).

Bear (E, A, R) is the animal—hey, bears have EARs!—but there are actually many other ways to use this spelling… 

Trees bear fruit. A truck bears weight. You can’t bear to do homework. It’s a bear (a burden) to do chores. 

It’s easiest to remember that bare (A, R, E) is only used when you mean something is naked, without, or exposed. The rest of the time, it’s bear.