How can one understand the occurrence of authentic hadiths with different wordings for the same hadith, even though the Prophet's saying or action is one? And can the meaning differ between them? And how should a Muslim deal with this difference? And does this contradict the preservation of the Sunnah?

The Prophet, may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him, might repeat a hadith several times, such that a single Companion would hear it on multiple occasions, like the hadith about ablution and prayer narrated by 'Amr ibn 'Abasah al-Sulami, who heard it seven or more times. The Prophet might also narrate a hadith in several gatherings, so each narrator would hear it with its specific wording on a different occasion, or the narrator might transmit the hadith by its meaning.