combine countif formulas into 1 formula

I want to combine multiple countif formulas into formula. I need to add up all the cells in a range that meet one of a number of criteria.

Ex. Criteria: cells value = ball, tree, car, or step

if the range has 4 trees, 3 balls, 5 cars, and 3 steps, the countif would equal 15.

you probably need to add them together

=COUNTIF(A1:A100,"balls")+COUNTIF(A1:A100,"car")+ etc
OR
=SUM(COUNTIF(A1:A7,"balls"),COUNTIF(A1:A7,"car"))

yeah i was thinking i may have to.