Different ways of pronouncing the sentence affects the meaning, or, what the speaker intends to convey.
The hearer must interpret the clue, taking into account the context, and surmise what the speaker intended to communicate.
There are thousands of cliches in any language which, when literally taken, mean quite the opposite from what the speaker intends.
It is possible that they assumed the speaker intended that remark for the front row.
A crime is committed only when the speaker believes or intends the listener to believe that the subject of the proposed transaction depicts real children.
If that was what the speaker intended to say, why didn't he just say it?
It is not that the hearer has to decide which of a range of possible interpretations the speaker intended.
We had to guess what the speaker was intending to say, from the context - just as foreigners listening to English, in fact.
Clearly the speaker hadn't intended it to be heard.
However, he also has Down's syndrome and can only understand a statement that is the opposite of what the speaker intends to say.