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Difference between Have someone in and Have someone on

have someone in

1. invite a person into one’s home:

  • We had some friends in on Saturday night to watch the rugby and stay for dinner.

2. arrange for builders, decorators, etc. to come into one’s home to do some work:

  • We had some problem in the bathroom and we had a plumber in to fix a pipe.

have someone on—(coll.) mislead smb. deliberately; deceive or swindle a person:

  • She seemed a nice person; but for all I knew she might be a brilliant actress and was just having me on.