My Work Is Cut Out understanding this one

I’ve heard it said a few times recently: “I/he/she really has their work cut out for them”. It seems it’s one of those phrases which could mean anything. It’s been bugging me, so I researched it. Apparently, it means two things; that you either have very little work to do (because everything is cut out, ready to go), or that you have too much work to do (because someone has to help you to keep up the pace). It seems to me the former is the most sensible one, but it’s only after researching it that I realised why people might use the latter. To me, it’s another one of those meaningless phrases which confirms my belief that English is the craziest language on earth.