Studies of the epigrammatic ‘art of variation’ have generally overlooked a specific type of variatio that occurs when an author reworks a given epigram by introducing minimal alterations to change its general meaning. This paper collects and comments on a corpus of epigrams that exemplify this textual practice, exploring the different ways in which an original text is modified and for what purposes. A better understanding of this kind of variatio prompts a reassessment of variant readings found in certain manuscripts and papyrus fragments.