1. When Portia says, "If my father had not given me you, I will rather die than give you up." (Act I, Scene II), she plays on the word 'give' to mean both to offer something and to deliver a person in childbirth.
2. When Shylock says, "I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you." (Act I, Scene III), he uses parallelism and wordplay to emphasize his unwillingness to engage in certain activities with Antonio because of their religious differences.
3. In Act II, Scene II, Lancelot's wordplay with "bond" and "bondage" creates humorous ambiguity:
Gobbo: "Your worship's friends and your worship's enemies"
Lancelot: "But how should your worship know them from your friends?"
Gobbo: "Why, I think you are in the right. I can give you little satisfaction in them."
Lancelot: "Truly, then, my bond's in the forfeit."
Gobbo: "You lose not by 't. Let me see - 'Let the forfeit be paid - the Jew shall have all his money' - and that's the wheel of fortune."
4. In Act II, Scene V, Jessica puns on the word "thrift" when she says, "Now, by my hood, a Gentile, and no Jew." (Act II, Scene VI), referring to Lorenzo's generosity.
5. When Portia says, "He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my projects, and given me more work than I should have done in twelve months." (Act III, Scene II), she uses wordplay and exaggeration to emphasize the extent of Shylock's offenses.
6. In the same scene, Shylock puns on the word "pound," referring to both money and flesh, creating tension and dark humor:
Shylock: "An equal pound of your fair flesh, to be cut off and taken in what part of your body pleaseth me."
Antonio: "Content, i' faith: I'll seal to such a bond, and say there is much kindness in the Jew."
These are just a few examples of the wordplay and puns used throughout The Merchant of Venice, adding humor and depth to the play's dialogue.