lay, lai, lei

Lay or lay means to set something in a recumbent or horizontal position--
She went upstairs to lay out her clothes for tomorrow.
You can lay your coats on the chair in the hall.

Lay also means to deposit or set a thing on a surface, or on another thing or person, literally or figuratively--
He learned to lay bricks from his father.
We shouldn't lay all of the blame on him.

Lay or lay also describes a secular person, as opposed to a member of the clergy--
He hopes to start a lay ministry that will reach out to the homeless.
The meeting will be for the clergy and any interested lay persons.

Lay also means a short poem--
He wrote a poem meant to resemble an old-fashioned lay.
The class is reading 'The Lay of the Last Minstrel."

Lai or lai ( rhymes with lay ) means a kind of medieval poem or song, usually about love or romance--
Our French class is reading a medieval lai about Lancelot and Guinevere.
This lai was originally written in medieval french, so it loses something in the translation.

Lei or lei ( rhymes with lay, or pronounced lay ee ) means a garland of flowers, as worn in Hawaii--
He was greeted with a lei on his arrival in Hawaii.
Each guest wore a paper lei and a flowered shirt.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"While the lei of orchids lay on the table, he began to compose a lai in honor of their trip to Hawaii."