Alternative to "double entendre"?

Does anyone know another word or way to say double entendre — in the non-bawdy sense of the word — as this phrase was only invented in the latter 1600's and so not around when Shakespeare wrote his plays, specifically as ever, the Merchant…

it is a straight statement... he is a good man... just one that two people take to mean two different ways is there a nice word for that when used purposefully?

Solution 1:

If you make a statement that, by accident, can reasonably interpreted two ways, you have said something ambiguous.

If you make a statement that, by design, can reasonably interpreted two ways and it's not dirty or sexual, you've said something with a double meaning or perhaps a hidden meaning. (I can't think of any single word that describes it, but if one exists I'm sure Robusto will find it for you....)

Solution 2:

You mean one of

adianoeta
allegory
innuendo

Solution 3:

If you want a term that Shakespeare himself (or at least his contemporaries) might have used, how about bawdy quips or more specifically bawdy puns?

(And I feel sure there’s somewhere also in Romeo and Juliet where this subject comes up — Mercutio and Benvolio(?) are teasing Romeo about having the hots for Juliet, and he says something like “enough with the filthy jokes, guys! my love for her is pure and special!” — but I can’t remember for the life of me remember his actual words, I’m up afraid.)