BALL is a hinge word: 8 words make a compound in front of it and 3 make one after it, so it can sit in the middle of a chain and hold two compounds together at once.
Each of these makes a compound ending in BALL.
Each of these makes a compound starting with BALL.
BALL names a round object and, separately, a formal dance. The object sense takes a sport or a material in front (FOOTBALL, SNOWBALL) and heads BALLPARK; the dance sense is where BALLROOM comes from.
Put any word from the first list in front and any word from the second behind, and you have a three-word chain in which both neighbouring pairs join. Here are some of them.
BASE → BALL → PARK — baseball and ballparkEYE → BALL → POINT — eyeball and ballpointFIRE → BALL → ROOM — fireball and ballroomKEYSTONE is a free daily puzzle built entirely out of chains like these. You get the two ends and have to fill the two words in the middle. Three bridges a day, no account, no cookies.
Each of these has a page like this one. There is also an index of all 28.
BACK · BED · BOARD · BOOK · BREAK · DAY · DOWN · FALL · FIRE · GUN · HAND · HEAD · HOUSE · LAND · LIFE · LIGHT · MAN · NIGHT · OFF · OUT · OVER · SHIP · SIDE · SOME · TIME · WAY · WORK