Twice disheartened, about to start making a little money (8)
I believe the answer is:
twopence
'a little money' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to property as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'twice disheartened about to start' is the wordplay.
'disheartened' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (the middle or heart is removed).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'to start' becomes 'open' (opening is a kind of starting).
'twice' with its centre removed is 'twce'.
'twce' enclosing 'open' is 'TWOPENCE'.
'making' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for twopence that I've seen before include "very little bread" , "bit of history" , "Fiftieth of a pound" , "Penny plain, - coloured" , "Low-value coin" .)