My little brother was asking me too many questions, so I told him to go fly a kite.  This means that:

Jane and Katherine worked well together right off the bat.  This means that:

they worked well together at first but later had problems.

they worked well together from the beginning.

I asked my parents to loan me $1000.  My father said no dice.  This means that:

my father made me play dice with him until I won $1000.

Our company is having difficulty selling enough products to make a profit.  I don't know if we will sink or swim in the coming year.  This means that:

I don't know if we will experience a flood in the coming year.

I am confident that we will do well in the coming year.

I don't know if we will survive in the coming year.

I don't know if my colleagues will learn to swim or not in the coming year.

John's teacher said that he was off base with his answer to the first test question. This means that:

John did not answer in the correct space on the test.

John did not have the right foundation to answer the test question.

If you keep the ball rolling with your mathematics class, you will get good grades.  This means that:

you can go to class when you feel like it, and everything will be fine.

you must roll a ball and correctly calculate its speed.

you must correctly calculate the circumference of a rolling ball.

you must consistently go to your classes and do your homework.  

Mary is always on the ball with her work.  This means that:

she is good at catching the ball during baseball games with her co-workers.

Lawrence really gets a kick out of playing the guitar.  This means that:

his neighbors hated his playing so much that they beat and kicked him.

he was so frustrated that he kicked his guitar.

Kathy needed money, so she asked me for a loan.  I told her that unfortunately, we are in the same boat.  This means that:

I can't lend her money because I have to repair my boat.

I can't lend her money because I also don't have any money.

I can lend her money if she can wait a little while.

I can lend her money after I sell my boat.