How Do We Determine the Intended Meaning of a Metaphor?

When Ralph Waldo Emerson said that "all men are poets at heart," he might have been exposing a deeper truth than he realized. For even in the coldest, most calculating of minds there are indeed wisps of pure poetry. The metaphor, metaphore, or metaphora is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denotes one kind of object or idea used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them.
Metaphor Comprehension Theories
3-step Comprehension Model (Clark & Lucy, 1975)
Utterances may have intended meanings that differ from their literal meanings. …