For instance, imagine you are pushing a sled on a sheet of flat, frictionless ice. If you push for a certain distance, then stop, then the sled will go sliding away at a constant speed until it hits something. Force and work are not the same thing, though they are closely related. This is an important point.
Force is a changing of momentum, while work is a measure of force applied over a distance.
So in the end, work is not the amount of force, but how far you maintain that force.