The dictionary explains the exact meaning of the word and its different interpretations. The thesaurus gives you different words with the same or similar meaning.
Sample response: A dictionary tells you the definition of a word, and a thesaurus tells you the synonyms and antonyms. You can use a dictionary to check a word’s meaning. You can use a thesaurus to find other words that have similar meanings. You should check definitions of the synonyms in a dictionary, though, because synonyms do not all have the exact meaning.