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There's this inside joke I just entered into where people use the word "riposte" as in the fencing term, to be jokingly interpreted as "re-post" as in calling something a duplication.

There's an article that discusses both, but more as a correction to lay out the near homophones and direct a hearer to their correct spellings and usages. https://grammarist.com/homophones/riposte-vs-repost/

In the case I'm seeing, there's a deliberate misuse for humorous purposes. Is there a word for such a thing?

There seems to be some related concepts such as unconsciously choosing a wrong homophone though knowing the difference if greater attention was had (homophone aphasia) and the eggcorn where someone unknowingly mixes up homophones. But in our situation it's deliberate.

jxramos
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As @Mitch correctly states, it's called a pun.

The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. ...
Wikipedia

jxh
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  • Wow, that's totally true, totally slipped my mind too in this application since this was primarily delivered as an icon for the joke. The text would be raised in a tooltip/mouse-hover, this added just enough indirection that I never considered a pun in this context. Good call! – jxramos Jan 28 '20 at 21:32