I don't even know if this is possible much less what to call it

Question

I have no idea what to search for to see if this has already been answered because I don't know what this is called. Sorry!
I have a picture of a dog. If either the word "dog" or "dogs" or "puppy" or "puppies" etc is chosen, I want to display the same image of the dog which is an instantiated object of custom class Dict.
var dog:Dict = new Dict();
So I create my array:
SpellingGlobals.dictArray = ["dog", "dogs", "puppy", "puppies"];
If one of those words is chosen, it is the "key" to the object that has been instantiated.
dict["dog"] = dog;
dict["dogs"] = dog;
dict["puppy"] = dog;
dict["puppies"] = dog;
So
dictArray[2] = "puppy" and dict["puppy"] = dog, so dictArray[dict["puppy"]] = dog.
This all checks out. The problem comes when I want to actually add the object dog to the display list (basically, I want to display an image of a dog if "puppy" is chosen).
I tried instantiating another Dict object
var displayObj:Dict = new Dict();
and then assigning it to the list an displaying it.
displayObj = dict[dictArray[i]];
bmc.addChild(displayObj);
but it doesn't do anything. It doesn't throw an error, it just doesn't work. And trace ("dict[dictArray[i]]") gives me [object Dict] not the specific object.
Does that make sense?
Is what I'm trying to do even possible?

Answer 1

Yes! The class is Dict. dog is an extension of Dict. So is cat and flower and tree...etc. Each one is linked through actionscript to the Dict class into it's own custom class (dog, flower, cat, tree, etc).
The Dict class could not possibly be any simpler. It's just this:
package com.freerangeeggheads.spellwhiz {
    import flash.display.MovieClip;
    public class Dict extends MovieClip {
        public function Dict(): void {
Dog is declared like this:
var dog:Dict = new Dict();
And this:
bmc.addChild(dog);
Doesn't work.
It's linked properly, I checked the little box next to the link in the properties menu.
Dog is just a movie clip with a picture inside it.