herring / tent peg
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herring
A silvery schooling fish that lives in the Atlantic and in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and is an important food fish.
Gebratener grüner Hering mit Kartoffelsalat ist ein klassisches norddeutsches Gericht.
Fried fresh herring with potato salad is a classic northern German dish.
The two meanings of 'Hering' (herring/tent peg) are very different, but the context makes them clear. If it is about food, cooking, or fish, it means the food fish. If it is about tents, camping, or fastening something, it means the tent peg.
Zum Abendessen gibt es heute Hering mit Pellkartoffeln.
For dinner today, we're having herring with boiled potatoes.
As a food fish, 'Hering' (herring) is often part of compound words that describe a specific preparation. Well-known examples are 'Matjeshering' (soused herring), 'Bismarckhering' (pickled herring), and 'Brathering' (fried marinated herring).
Ein Brötchen mit Bismarckhering ist ein beliebter Snack in Norddeutschland.
A roll with Bismarck herring is a popular snack in northern Germany.
When the tent peg is meant, it is usually used with the verbs 'einschlagen' or 'hineinschlagen' (to drive in, into the ground) and 'herausziehen' (to pull out).
Nach dem Regen ließen sich die Heringe leicht aus dem weichen Boden ziehen.
After the rain, the tent pegs were easy to pull out of the soft ground.
asparagus
'der Spargel' and 'der Hering' can both be foods, but they belong to completely different groups. 'Spargel' is a vegetable that is often eaten cooked, especially in spring. 'Hering' is a fish and is often eaten pickled, fried, or simply as a food fish. You would only really confuse the words if you were learning them generally as foods. In concrete situations, the difference is clear: for vegetables, 'Spargel' fits; for fish, 'Hering' fits.
Zum Abendessen gibt es Hering mit Zwiebeln und Brot.
For dinner, there is herring with onions and bread.
Amira kocht Spargel mit Kartoffeln und Soße.
Amira is cooking asparagus with potatoes and sauce.