Held a model position (5)
I believe the answer is:
posed
'held' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with contact as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'a model position' is the wordplay.
'a model' becomes 'pose' (I've seen this before).
'position' becomes 'd' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'pose'+'d'='POSED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for posed that I've seen before include "Arranged for pictorial purposes" , "Modelled" , "Struck attitude - sat for painter" , "Was a model" , "Assumed" .)