Many students who study English as a foreign language (EFL) often find it challenging to paraphrase while writing from source texts. Lacking such an ability can lead to different meanings as well as copying another person's ideas, words or work. However, little research has been done to integrate tool consultation to assist students in paraphrasing. To address this gap, this study explored whether guided tool consultation with paraphrasing strategy instruction can help students improve their overall paraphrasing performance. During an 18-week course, a class of students were trained to use three different e-tools to find synonyms: Microsoft Word thesaurus, Oxford Living Dictionaries synonyms (now called Thesaurus.com), and Linggle. Adopting a mixed-method approach, data sets included: pre-posttest drafts (summary writing), surveys, screen recordings, and interviews. The results showed significant differences between the pre- and post-tests. The majority of the lexical and phrasal paraphrases was suitable, while only a few were inaccurate. The students demonstrated the ability to consult the tools for changing synonyms and were able to apply taught strategies to restructure and restate the original sentences. Although students revealed different perceptions of the usefulness of the three tools for finding synonyms, they generally agreed that paraphrasing strategies combined with tool training were beneficial for learning. Pedagogical implications and research suggestions are provided based on the findings.