play a joke on vs play a trick on

play a joke on and play a trick on both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
play a joke on	No	No	Yes	No
play a trick on	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, play a joke on and play a trick on are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of play a joke on include flim-flam, fob, fox, play tricks, pull a fast one on, trick.

play a joke on (verb)	play a trick on (verb)
subject to a playful hoax or joke	deceive somebody
deceive somebody