Receiving jab, pub worker becomes sore (9)
I believe the answer is:
indignant
'sore' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'receiving jab pub worker' is the wordplay.
'receiving' indicates putting letters inside.
'jab' becomes 'dig' (both can mean a hurtful comment).
'pub' becomes 'inn' (an inn is a type of pub).
'worker' becomes 'ant' (worker is a type of ant).
'dig' inserted within 'inn' is 'indign'.
'indign'+'ant'='INDIGNANT'
'becomes' is the link.
(Other definitions for indignant that I've seen before include "to get angry" , "Anger at having been treated unjustly" , "Annoyed at unfair treatment" , "Somewhat outraged" , "feeling anger" .)