Called retired mother in home (5)
I believe the answer is:
named
'called' is the definition.
('name' can be a synonym of 'call')
'retired mother in home' is the wordplay.
'retired' says the letters should be written backwards.
'mother' becomes 'ma' (ma is a kind of mother).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'home' becomes 'den' (I've seen this in other clues**).
'ma' going into 'den' is 'deman'.
'deman' in reverse letter order is 'NAMED'.
(Other definitions for named that I've seen before include "Titled" , "Called" , "Identified by appellation" , "Christened" , "Entitled" .)