means A spoke is one of the slender rods or bars that radiate from the hub of a wheel to its rim, distributing load and holding the wheel's shape — and 'spoke' is also the past tense of 'speak.'

from Two unrelated words wearing the same coat. The wheel-spoke comes from Old English 'spaca,' a Germanic word (cousin to Dutch 'spaak' and German 'Speiche') tied to a root meaning a sharp point or stake — the same family that may have given us 'spike.' The verb 'spoke,' the past of 'speak,' comes from Old English 'sprecan' / 'specan,' which lost its 'r' along the way; entirely separate roots that English happened to flatten into one spelling.