Coming back to the problem of spelling mistakes.
Of the 91 main English spelling patterns, 80 have some exceptions, but some have very few, e.g. the short /a/ sound is spelt differently in just 3 not particularly common words (plaid, plait, meringue). They are not much of a problem.
Only 20 patterns have more than 50 exceptions, and the most time-consuming to learn and therefore also most error-causing are doubled consonants, spellings for /ee/ and long /oo/ and heterographs. The latter cut across several spelling patterns.
I have a collection of 335 words which have different spellings for different meanings, but for about 80 of them most people learn just one (e.g. pigeon/pidgin, turn/tern). I have grouped the main 253 by the sound which they spell differently and will paste them in. They'll come out a bit jumbled, because i've got got them in tables, but just scrolling down will show u why they absorb much learning and teaching time.
If those 253 words all had just one spelling for their different meanings (like 'mean, lean, sound, found, bound and 2,000 others), learning to spell English would clearly be vastly less time-consuming than it is now.
They also make clear that phonics is of very limited use for learning to spell English. More useful for learning to read.
Words with more than one spelling problem
a-e/ ay
ale/ail
ate/eight
bale/bail
base/bass
brake/break
Dane/deign
faint/feint fate/fete
gage/gauge
gate/gait
grate/great
hale/hail
lane/lain
made/maid male/mail
mane/main
maze/maize
rain/reign
raze/raise
sale/sail
stake/steak strait/straight
tale/tail
vale/veil
vane/vain/vein
wait/weight
waste/waist
whale/wail* nay/neigh
slay/sleigh
Sunday/sundae
way/weigh
air / are / ear ...
air/heir*
bare/bear fair/fare
flair/flare
hair/hare pair/pear/pare
stair/stare their/there
wear/where*
au / aw
ball/bawl
faun/fawn Gaul/gall
haul/hall maul/mall
Paul/pall taut/taught*
e / er
berry/bury*
berth/birth
bred/bread earn/urn
fir/fur
herd/heard led/lead
lent/leant
pearl/purl red/readx2
-e endings
born/borne cast/caste fiance/fiancée
heroin/heroine
ee / ea ...
bee/be
beech/beach
been/bean
beet/beat
breech/breach
cheep/cheap
creek/creak
deer/dear
discreet/discrete
eerie/eyrie
eve/eaves
feet/feat flee/flea
freeze/frieze
geezer/geyser
genes/jeans*
Greece/grease*
heel/heal
here/hear
key/quay
leaver/lever
leech/leach
leek/leak
meet/meat need/knead
peace/piece
pee/pea
peek/peak
peel/peal
peer/pier
reed/read
reek/wreak*
reel/real
see/sea
seamen/semen
seem/seam sealing/ceiling*
seen/scene*
serial/cereal*
sheer/ shear
sheikh/chic*
steel/steal
sweet/suite*
tee/tea
teem/team
wee/we
week/weak
wheel/weal*
i, i-e / -y
gild/guild
him/hymn
bite/byte/bight
drier/dryer
flier/ flyer I/aye/eye
isle/aisle
knight/night*
lightening/lightning*
mite/might
rime/rhyme* rite/right/ write
site/sight/cite
slight/sleight
stile/style
time/thyme*
tire/tyre by/buy/bye
die/dye
hi/high
o-e / -o
bolder/boulder
broach/brooch
groan/grown
lone/loan
moan/mown
pole/poll road/rode
role/roll
sewn/sown
sole/soul
thrown/throne
yolk/yoke doe/dough
no/know
oh/owe
roe/row
so/sow/sew
toe/tow
oo
moose/mousse*
root/route
shoot/chute*
troop/troupe blue/blew
coo/coup
flue/flew/flu
threw/through
too/to/two
you/ewe/yew/u
wood/would
or
boar/bore/Boer
border/boarder
coarse/course
for/four
forth/fourth hoar/whore*
horse/hoarse
or/oar/ore
pore/pour
sore/soar
war/wore
warn/worn
our
our/hour flower/flour
u
cum/come
dun/done
nun/none ruff/rough*
sum/some
sun/son won/one*
-ue
cue/queue* due/dew hue/hew revue/review
unstressed vowels in endings
-al / -el / -le
bridal/bridle
capital/capitol
dual/duel naval/navel
principal/principle
counsel/council*
idle/idol
-en / -on
batten/baton* lessen/lesson
-er / -ar / -or
alter/altar
caster/castor
hanger/hangar
lumber/lumbar
manner/manor
meter/metre
miner/minor
peddler/pedlar
raiser/razor
rigger/rigor
seller/cellar*
stationery/stationary
summery/summary
-y / -ey ...
bogy/bogey caddy/caddie chilly/chilli story/storey
Doubled / not doubled consonants
ad/add
but/butt
Finn/fin
gel/jell*
in/inn
lap/Lapp
tic/tick aloud /allowed*
berry/bury*
canvas/canvass
carrot/carat*
Finnish/finish
medal/meddle*
metal/mettle moose/mousse
mussel/muscle*
pallet/palate/palette*
pedal/peddle*
peddler/pedlar*
pidgin/pigeon*
rigger/rigor*
Other unpredictable consonanants
c/ k/ ch/ qu
arc/ark
bask/Basque
cord/chord
franc/frank
kernel/colonel*
scull/skull
check/cheque/
Czech f
draft/draught*
faze/phase
profit/prophet*
h
hole/whole
holy/wholly
hoop/whoop
j
gel/jell*
Jim/gym* m
dam/damn
plum/plumb
n
nave/knave
new/knew
nit/knit
not/knot
r / wr
rap/wrap
retch/wretch
ring/wring
rung/wrung
rye/wry*
s / c
sell/cell
sensor/censor
sent/scent/cent
serial/cereal*
sight/cite*
signet/cygnet
council/counsel*
practice/ practise
Greece/grease*
s / z
braise/braze*
geyser/geezer
grisly/grizzly
prise/prize
w / wh
watt/what*
wet/whet
weather/whether
weal/wheel*
witch/which*
wile/while
wine/whine
oddments
Its/it’s bow/bough boy/buoy hart/heart
shoot/chute* marshal/martial complement /compliment
at the teacher's own spelling mistakes?