antanaclasis means the repeated use of the same word or phrase, but with a different meaning each time; a kind of paronomasia. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “antanaclasis” is a great word
ANTANACLASIS — [Noun] A rhetorical device in which a single word or phrase is repeated within a sentence or passage, each time with a distinct meaning. From Ancient Greek ἀντανάκλασις (antanáklasis, "reflection, bending back"), from ἀντί (antí, "against") + ἀνά (aná, "up") + κλάσις (klásis, "breaking"). First attested in English 1640–50. Unlike paronomasia (a general pun on similar sounds) or polyptoton (repeating a root in different grammatical forms), antanaclasis is the precise, identical repetition of a lexical unit to fracture its own sense. It is the politician's "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately"; the lawyer's "Your argument is sound, nothing but sound"; the lover's lament that "the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart." The word itself bends back, a quiet proof that context is everything and stability an illusion.
noun
- The repeated use of the same word or phrase, but with a different meaning each time; a kind of paronomasia.