General way to assess meaning (10)
I believe the answer is:
strategist
'general' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'way to assess meaning' is the wordplay.
'way' becomes 'st' (abbreviation for street).
'to assess' becomes 'rate' (rating is a kind of assessing).
'meaning' becomes 'gist' (gist is a kind of meaning).
'st'+'rate'+'gist'='STRATEGIST'
(Other definitions for strategist that I've seen before include "general" , "Expert on the art of planning war" , "Long-term planner" .)