Award Yankee son accepts (5)
I believe the answer is:
obeys
'accepts' is the definition.
'award yankee son' is the wordplay.
'award' becomes 'OBE' (Order of the British Empire).
'yankee' becomes 'Y' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'son' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation for son).
'obe'+'y'+'s'='OBEYS'
(Other definitions for obeys that I've seen before include "Complies with orders" , "Follows orders" , "Listens to" , "Carries out orders" , "Does what one is told" .)