to work: to put out sustained effort that produces a result, whether earning a living, doing a deed, or carrying on a trade
This is the ordinary Greek verb for working, and like the English word "work" it stretches across a wide field while keeping one clear center: effort that brings something about. The plainest use is making a living, especially by hand, the daily labor Paul insists believers keep up so they are a burden to no one.
From that base it reaches naturally into doing in general. To work good, to work evil, to work righteousness, to work the works of God: the verb treats a deed as something a person produces, not merely something that happens. It can also narrow to commerce, working money or working the sea to turn a profit, and it rises to its highest use when the subject is God, who is always at work and never idle.
All of these are the same act of effortful production seen in different settings, which is why one English word usually carries them. The senses below sort the occurrences by what is being produced: a wage, a deed, a gain, or the unceasing activity of God.