hey so this thread here is about being able to apply multiple categories to one project.
which works, and wasnt possible some years ago.
It would be great to have projects on the homepage and only click through them, but also have them appear on a separate Work page.
im not sure if i understand what you mean.
you can put a project thumbnail grid on a homepage.
you can put it on a "work" page too.
project thumbnail grid:
https://laytheme.com/documentation/gridder-elements.html#thumbnailgrid
you dont need to use category pages, you can just use normal pages and put thumbnailgrids on them.
when going inside one of the projects, you can click through them using one of these features:
https://laytheme.com/documentation/navigation-between-projects.html
it doesnt matter where you put your thumbnailgrids, you can always go prev/next inside a project.
not sure if i understand the question correctly though.