BOAT is a hinge word: 3 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 BOAT.
Each of these makes a compound starting with BOAT.
BOAT and HOUSE join in both orders, and the order decides which one you live in: a HOUSEBOAT is a home that floats, a BOATHOUSE is a shed that does not. GUNBOAT and BOATLOAD both come out of naval vocabulary; DREAMBOAT is a piece of 1940s slang that somehow survived.
These words make a compound whichever side of BOAT they sit on, usually with two unrelated meanings.
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.
DREAM → BOAT → HOUSE — dreamboat and boathouseGUN → BOAT → LOAD — gunboat and boatloadHOUSE → BOAT → MAN — houseboat and boatmanKEYSTONE 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 60.
AWAY · BACK · BALL · BED · BLACK · BOARD · BOOK · BOY · BREAK · CHECK · CROSS · DAY · DOOR · DOWN · FALL · FATHER · FIRE · FOOT · GROUND · GUARD · GUN · HAND · HEAD · HOOD · HOUSE · LAND · LESS · LIFE · LIGHT · LINE · LOAD · MAN · MOTHER · NIGHT · OFF · OUT · OVER · PAY · POINT · POST · POWER · ROOM · RUN · SET · SHIP · SIDE · SOME · STEP · SUN · TAKE · TIME · TURN · UNDER · WALK · WARD · WATER · WAY · WOOD · WORK