The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 plus 5 letter word SWISS ARMY KNIFE
S
W
I
S
S
A
R
M
Y
K
N
I
F
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "it has multiple uses" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case it has multiple uses = swiss army knife.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.