ばかり — 'just did X' vs 'nothing but X', same word different meaning?

Question

食べたばかり (just ate) and 漫画ばかり読んでいる (reads nothing but manga) both use ばかり but feel totally unrelated in meaning. Are these really the same grammar point or is my textbook conflating two things?

Accepted Answer

Same core word, two documented uses that your textbook is right to group: 1) Vた+ばかり = 'just did' (recency), 2) N/Vて+ばかり = 'nothing but / always doing' (excessive frequency). The unifying thread is ばかり pointing at something that dominates the moment — either it JUST happened so it's still fresh, or it happens SO OFTEN it's all you see. Different surface meaning, same 'this is the only thing occupying focus' feel.