Rewards father at unknown school (4)

I believe the answer is:

pays

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'rewards' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to property as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?

'father at unknown school' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'pa' (pa can mean dad or father).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'unknown' becomes 'y' (algebra).
'school' becomes 'S'.
'pa'+'y'+'s'='PAYS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pays that I've seen before include "(13) [FRENCH] Country" , "makes a profit" , "Settles a bill" , "Remunerates" , "Gives money for work" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.

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