Equivocation Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: RL.9-10.3

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

This is a writing technique that is different things to different people, under different circumstances. This often results in authors writing pieces that use a great deal of ambiguous language to the point of hiding or concealing the truth. Authors can use to employ this strategy to purposefully mislead their readers, but it is often used to spare reader feelings. Authors will also use this strategy to avoid making factual mistakes when they do not have undisputable sources or data to cite. This collection of worksheets will explore this technique and slowly help students learn how to use in their own compositions.

Equivocation Worksheets To Print:

True or False - A good way to see what you understand about this technique.

Prevarication - This concept is a bit more purposeful and deliberate.

Paragraph Catch - Fill up the paragraph to complete all of the thoughts.

Circumlocution - This is using language that just has too many unecessary words.

On Television - The news is a good place to start with this worksheet.

Explore Thoughts - See if you can use this technique in a small circumstance.

Macbeth - Evaluate where this occurs in the play. Include the act, scene, and line numbers.

Everyday Language - Use this technique in language that you would use daily.

Characterization - You will actually put what you learned to good use.

Shakespeare Did It! - We will evaluate Shakespeare's work and pinpoint where he used this technique.

Greek Tragedy - Equivocation often appears in Greek tragedies in the speeches given by oracles. Though the oracle commonly seems to give the main character good news, it is often revealed by the end of the story that the news had a very different meaning than originally supposed.

What a Character - This will help you evaluate a story you are reading and add some critical thoughts.

Comics - Draw a comic in which one character asks a question, and the other responds using this technique.

In the News - This technique is used more often these days.

Don't Answer - Use this strategy to avoid answering a question. Famous people do this all the time.

What Is Equivocation?

An equivocation is defined as using language that is deliberately evasive and tends to use ambiguous language. This means that any form of speech that makes a point without saying too much is considered an equivocation. Furthermore, in an equivocation, one portion has one side of the argument and the other portion has the other side in it.


An equivocation fallacy is when a person will use ambiguous language to refute or support their argument. It can be better described as wordplay to get into a more commanding position. For example, during a debate, if someone wants to steer towards a point in which they have better command, they will start using equivocation fallacies to get the discussion going in their favor.


To better understand what equivocation is, here is a list of examples to make it clearer.


- Children who make noise are a real headache. Having two aspirins will help make my headache go away. This way, having two aspirin a day will help keep noisy children away.


- A drunk driver gets pulled over by the cops. "I've only had a couple of beers ." Here, the driver is telling the police how many beers he's had but he fails to mention any other alcoholic beverages he might have had.


- A billboard has the words 'here's the sign you've been looking for' written against a white background. This could mean two things. First, this billboard is evidently a sign with information on it. Second, this could be a sign from a deity that you might have been searching for.


- AX once used the slogan ‘clean your dirty balls' in an advertisement showing different sports equipment being used. However, AX sells men's body products so they did not mean cleaning sports equipment and actually had a subdued meaning behind this.


- In the play Macbeth, the main character, when visiting the witches says: Be bloody, bold, and resolute; laugh to scorn / The power of man, for none of women born / Shall harm Macbeth. Here, he mentioned ‘none of the women born' which one would assume made him something other than human. In fact, it means that a person who isn't born of natural birth i.e. cesarean section is incapable of harming Macbeth.


- "A man is the only intelligent animal on the planet. And, since a woman is not a man, we can say that women are not intelligent."