Approaches a listener in two directions (5)
I believe the answer is:
nears
'approaches' is the definition.
(I know this)
'a listener in two directions' is the wordplay.
'two directions' can mean two replacements for 'direction'.
'a listener' becomes 'ear' (body part which hears or listens).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'direction' becomes 'n' (N is an example).
'direction' becomes 'S' (S is an example).
'n'+'s'='ns'
'ear' placed into 'ns' is 'NEARS'.
(Other definitions for nears that I've seen before include "Moves towards" , "Gets closer" , "Uses snare to get closer" , "advances" , "Comes closer" .)