🗓️ Idiom: Have Many Balls in the Air (verb)
💬 Meaning
- To manage many tasks or responsibilities at the same time.
- To juggle several projects or activities at once.
🧠 Example Sentences
- As a manager, she always has many balls in the air, from budgets to staff training.
- He had many balls in the air during the product launch.
- Our department has many balls in the air as we prepare for the annual report.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from juggling. A juggler keeps several balls in the air without dropping them, just like someone handling many tasks at the same time.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
During the busy season, the HR manager had __________ with hiring, training, and payroll all happening at once.
Answer
many balls in the air
2. Multiple choice:
What does have many balls in the air mean?
a) To play a sport
b) To manage many tasks at the same time
c) To drop responsibilities
Answer
b) To manage many tasks at the same time
3. Change the sentence using “have many balls in the air”:
She is handling several important projects at once.
Answer
She has many balls in the air.
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
