barely — barley
[the first four letters ‘bare…’ in ‘barely’ rhyme with “bare”, and in ‘barley’, the first three letters ‘bar…’ rhyme with “bar”]
barely any water
“Barely” (for the right pronunciation, please click here) is an adverb, meaning ‘almost nothing; hardly’,
barely any money
e.g.
There is barely any water in the pond.
[i.e. there is almost no water in the pond; there is some water but it is not enough for bathing or fishing]
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barley (grain/cereal) seed and some spikes
“Barley” (for the right pronunciation, please click here) is a noun, meaning ‘a grass-like plant (a cereal) that is grown for its seed which is used as food, and also in making drinks such as beer, whisky, etc.’,
e.g.
Barley is one of the staple foods in many parts of the world.
