The riddle
What Does a House Wear?
Hearing the pun
Say "address" and then "a dress" at ordinary speed. Merriam-Webster gives the noun the pronunciation uh-DRESS, and "a dress" is also uh-DRESS when the article is a short uh. The dictionary lists a second pronunciation, with the stress on the first syllable, so the pun is sharpest when the stress falls on the second. Told aloud, the riddle is a clean sound-alike.
What an address is made of
A mailing address in the United States has a house number, a street name, a city, a state and a ZIP Code. The Post Office Department began using ZIP Codes in 1963, and the letters stand for Zone Improvement Plan, according to the United States Postal Service. A house really does carry its address around, on the mailbox, on the front of the building or on a sign by the road, which is what makes the picture of a house "wearing" it believable. The first digit of a ZIP Code marks a broad region of the country, from 0 in the Northeast to 9 along the Pacific, so even that small part of an address says where the house is.
Relatives in the dictionary
Address and dress are not only sound-alikes. Both words go back to Old French verbs about setting something straight, per Online Etymology Dictionary. The older sense of address, to aim at something, survives in golf, where a player addresses the ball before a shot.
Making the riddle land
Pause after "wear" and let listeners think about coats and hats. The answer will sound odd on paper and clear in the air. If someone reaches for "a roof" or "shingles", ask them to say what the postal worker needs to find the place.