An American idiom:
1. to play a trick on or to fool. Carlton's friends told him that he was chosen as prom king but he felt that they were taking him for a ride. (Carlton thought his friends were trying to fool him.)
2. to take advantage of or selfishly deceive. She took her husband on a ride by murdering him then collecting his life insurance proceeds. (She was mainly interested in her husband for the life insurance payoff from his death.)
3. to literally take out for a ride in a vehicle with an intent to murder. Snow, the gang leader, decided that the informer needed to be taken for a ride. (Snow ordered the murder of the one who told the police.)