Does bread have a short E sound?

Yes, the Word 'bread' does have the short e sound. But not all Words that have the e and a together make the same short e sound.

An example of a Word where the e and a make the long e sound is bead. But you also have Words that are spelled exactly the same but sound different and mean different things, such as lead (with a long E meaning show someone the way) and lead (with the short e meaning a heavy metal). Or tear (with short e means to rip) and tear (with long e means the drops that fall when someone cries).