Textual variants in the Divan of Hafez constitute one of the key sources of semantic multiplicity and interpretive diversity in his poetry. Despite their significance, these variants have often been confined to the realm of textual criticism, and their role in the semiotic production of meaning has remained underexplored. Drawing on Michael Riffaterre’s theory of intertextual semiotics—particularly his concept of ungrammaticality as the trigger of the poetic sign—and informed by reader-response theory as well as Bakhtinian polyphony, this study offers a linguistic-semiotic analysis of how variant readings generate meaning. Focusing on two emblematic cases from one ghazal—the variant “Talkhvash” and the well-known dual reading “Kashti-neshastegan / kashti-shekastegan”—the paper demonstrates that unusual, marginal, or low-frequency forms function as Riffaterrean ungrammaticalities, disrupting linear decoding and compelling the reader to activate a network of hypotexts. These intertexts range from early and late manuscript traditions to classical Persian poetry and Qur’anic discourse. The findings reveal that such sites of textual instability, rather than obstructing comprehension, stimulate interpretive productivity and lead to multiple, equally legitimate readings shaped by the horizon of expectations of different periods. Accordingly, textual variation in Hafez should not be viewed solely as a philological problem but as an active linguistic-semiotic mechanism that enhances ambiguity, supports the poem’s polyphonic structure, and enables the continual regeneration of meaning across diverse acts of reception.