The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

boards \boards\ n.
   1. the boarding that surrounds an ice hockey rink.
      [WordNet 1.5]

   2. the stage; as, to walk the boards, i.e. to act on stage.
      [PJC]

   3. board examinations (in a profession, as in medicine); --
      an informal contraction; as, to take the boards; he
      flunked the boards.
      [PJC]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

boards
    n 1: the stage of a theater; "most actors love to stride the
         boards"
    2: the boarding that surrounds an ice hockey rink

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

64 Moby Thesaurus words for "boards":
   Broadway, L, R, acting area, apron, apron stage, backstage,
   band shell, bandstand, board, bridge, burlesque, carnival, circus,
   coulisse, dock, drama, dressing room, entertainment industry,
   flies, fly floor, fly gallery, forestage, greenroom, grid,
   gridiron, legit, legitimate stage, lightboard, off Broadway,
   off-off-Broadway, orchestra, orchestra pit, performing area, pit,
   playland, proscenium, proscenium stage, repertory drama, shell,
   show biz, show business, stage, stage left, stage right,
   stage world, stagedom, stageland, stock, strawhat,
   strawhat circuit, summer stock, switchboard, the boards,
   the footlights, the scenes, the stage, the theater, theater world,
   theatromania, theatrophobia, variety, vaudeville, wings