Message interpretation, the notion that individuals assign meaning to stimuli, is related to listening presage, listening process, and listening product. As a central notion of communication, meaning includes (a) denotation and connotation, and (b) content and relational meanings, which can vary in ambiguity and vagueness. Past research on message interpretation, using primarily written scenarios, has identified individual, sociocultural, and contextual factors such as personality, sex and gender, and equivocation that influence interpretation. This analysis recommends that treatments of listening highlight the role of interpretation and that investigations of message interpretation consider nonverbal cues and the demands of interaction management that exist in interactive listening situations. (Contains 1 footnote.)