The invention relates to an internal combustion motor, in particular a lift-piston motor with internal combustion and with cylinders arranged in-line, as well as with at least one rotating control element for the gas charge change processes, which is arranged between cylinder block and cylinder cover with an axis of rotation lying perpendicular to the cylinder axis and between two pivots extending rotation-axially presents a control body standing in fixed connection with the pivots, there being provided counter-surfaces in the cylinder head surrounding the control body and the pivots uniformly and each pivot being traversed by an axially extending gas channel, which goes over in each case into an elbow-shaped gas channel arranged in the control body, which channel emerges with an opening at the surface of the control body, and an arrangement being provided for the transfer of a rotary movement from the crankshaft to the control element, characterized in that the control body is constructed as a sphere, in particular as a hollow spherical body.