The words loot, lute sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do loot, lute sound the same even though they are completely different words?
The answer is simple: loot, lute are homophones of the English language.
Valuables pillaged in time of war; spoils.
Stolen goods.
Informal Goods illicitly obtained, as by bribery.
Informal Things of value, such as gifts, received on one occasion.
A stringed instrument having a body shaped like a pear sliced lengthwise and a neck with a fretted fingerboard that is usually bent just below the tuning pegs.
A substance, such as dried clay or cement, used to pack and seal pipe joints and other connections or coat a porous surface in order to make it tight. Also called luting.
To coat, pack, or seal with lute.
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").