bowling, cricket, golf, ping-pong/Ping-Pong™, rugby, soccer (esp. AmE), tennis, etc.
beach
match, practice
rubber

play with
head, hit, kick
The kids love to kick a ball against my wall.

throw, toss
bowl, pitch
bat, blast, drive, pound, strike
roll
bounce, dribble
chip, volley
clear, cross, pass
move, run
catch, stop
He caught the ball.

control, trap
get, grab, steal
chase
retrieve, run down
return
The fielders try to retrieve the ball quickly and return it to the bowler.

miss
The catcher missed the ball.

drop, let go of
Oh no! He's dropped the ball.

handle, touch
give away (BrE), lose
win (esp. BrE)
keep, retain (BrE)

go, travel
float, fly, roll, sail, soar
The ball flew over the fence.

spin
hit, land, strike
The ball hit me on the head.

bounce, rebound, ricochet

game
control, handling, skills
His ball control was excellent.

carrier, handler (both AmE)
He's an excellent ball handler.

college
pro, professional

play

player
team
cap

loose
high, low
He sent over a high ball.

long, short
quick, slow
good, great, superb (all esp. BrE)
bad (esp. BrE)
curve (= that changes direction unpredictably)
The plot throws a few curve balls along the way to keep you guessing. (figurative)

foul
hand (usually handball) (in football/soccer)
He was penalized for handball.

play, send
pick up, pounce on, punish
He pounced on a loose ball and scored.

ball from
a great ball from Rooney

tight
fiery
The sun was a fiery ball, low on the hills.

crystal
Without a crystal ball it's impossible to say where we'll be next year.

cannon
wrecking
cotton (AmE)
disco
medicine (= heavy ball used as a weight)

curl (up) into, roll (up) into
The little girl curled up into a ball in her mother's arms.

form sth into, make sth into, roll sth (up) into, screw sth (up) into, shape sth into
He screwed the letter up into a tight ball.

a ball and chain (figurative)
The responsibility was a ball and chain around my ankle.

charity (esp. BrE), college (BrE), hunt (BrE)
costume, fancy-dress (esp. BrE), masked
We're going to a masked ball.

have, hold, organize
We're organizing a charity ball.

attend, go to

dress, gown

at a/the ball
She met him at the ball.