As in a way to become different continental (5)
I believe the answer is:
asian
'different continental' is the definition.
'asian' can be an answer for 'continental' (I've seen this before). I am unsure of the 'different' bit.
'as in a way' is the wordplay.
'way' indicates anagramming the letters (another way of arranging the letters).
'in'+'a'='ina'
'ina' is an anagram of 'ian'.
'as'+'ian'='ASIAN'
'to become' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for asian that I've seen before include "Relating to one of the continents" , "Indian or Thai?" , "Oriental" , "Of the largest continent" , "One of eastern origin" .)