ACR LTT CARGO FLT CROSSED ACTIVE RWY WITHOUT CLRNC.

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WE WERE CLRED TO TAXI TO RWY 19. AS INSTRUCTED BY ATC GND. TO TAXI TO RWY 19 AT MKC FROM OUR POS ON THE ARPT WE MUST CROSS THE ACTIVE RWY; 19. AT NO TIME WAS ANY HOLDING INSTRUCTION GIVEN. BOTH CREWMEMBERS CHKED FOR TFC BEFORE XING 19. THERE WAS NO TFC. UPON XING 19 ATC GND INFORMED US WE NEEDED ATC CLRNC TO CROSS 19. WE BOTH THOUGHT THAT; 'CLRED TO TAXI TO 19;' MEANT THAT WE COULD TAXI TO 19 BY XING THE ACTIVE 19 AND PROCEED TO THE APCH END OF 19. THE CTLR WORKING GND WAS ALSO WORKING THE TWR FREQ. IF GND ISSUES A CLRNC TO TAXI I FEEL THAT THE; 'CLRED TO TAXI;' GIVES UNRESTRICTED CLRNC TO TAXI TO THE ACTIVE RWY. I FEEL HOLDING INSTRUCTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN ISSUED IF GND CTL WANTED US TO HOLD SHORT OF THE ACTIVE RWY. FROM NOW ON I WILL QUESTION ANY CLRNC THAT TAKES ME ACROSS AN ACTIVE RWY SO THIS SITUATION NEVER OCCURS AGAIN. I'M GLAD AT THE TIME OF THE PROB; TO MY KNOWLEDGE; WE WERE THE ONLY TFC BEING HANDLED BY ATC. I FEEL I'M NOT ALONE IN MY INTERP OF 'CLRED TO TAXI.' LET'S KEEP AVIATION SAFE.