Sentence:  His arm had been giving him some trouble and Rector was not enough of a medical expert to determine whether it had healed improperly or whether Hino was simply rebelling against the tedious work in the print shop , <WSD>using</WSD> the stiffness in his arm as an excuse . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose