A bishop housed in a villa, in resort close to diocese, for free (9)
I believe the answer is:
available
'free' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)
'a bishop housed in a villa in resort close to diocese' is the wordplay.
'bishop' becomes 'b' (chess abbreviation).
'housed in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'in resort' is an anagram indicator (letters get re-sorted).
'close to' suggests the final letters (the close of something is the end).
The last letter of 'diocese' is 'e'.
'a'+'villa'='avilla'
'avilla' is an anagram of 'vailal'.
'b' going inside 'vailal' is 'vailabl'.
'a'+'vailabl'+'e'='AVAILABLE'
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for available that I've seen before include "Not otherwise committed" , "To hand" , "Obtainable or accessible" , "Unoccupied" , "Uncommitted" .)