Does near have a short or long e sound?

The Word 'near' does not technically have a long E sound, because of the R. This is called a caret I (ear) Word. Some other Words that rhyme with near and have the same sound are fear, hear, and dear.

There are Words that look the same as those Words, but have the caret A sound (air), like wear, bear, and pear.

And then some of them are spelled exactly alike and can have either the long e or short e sound. An example is tear (rip apart with a short e) and tear (crying drops with a long e).