She had to turn up when holding an 'at home' (5)
I believe the answer is:
dinah
'she' is the definition.
'had to turn up when holding an at home' is the wordplay.
'to turn up' says the letters should be written backwards.
'when holding' is an insertion indicator.
'an at home' becomes 'in' ('I'm in' can mean 'I'm at home').
'had' backwards is 'dah'.
'dah' placed around 'in' is 'DINAH'.
(Other definitions for dinah that I've seen before include "_____ 15+22, singer" , "Washington perhaps" .)