MEANING at 4 LEVELS

 Consider this simple sentence  - John was qualified.

One representative meaning at each of the "4 LEVELS" - 

Order of the words - It was John who was qualified. The very arrangement of the words, serially, from left to right, in the given order tells that it was JOhn who was qualified.

Definitions - John passed exams.  The definition which the word 'qualified' stands for.                              

Semantics of the sentence -  John was educated. The "general", "overall" meaning of the sentence.            Commonsense Semantics -  John had a degree   . Incorporating worldly commonsense knowledge.