Woodworking Hand Tools Vocabulary Worksheet

Press Print worksheet to match twelve woodworking hand tools, from chisel and plane to try square, to their meanings.

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All 36 terms

Hand tools 12

chisel A blade with a beveled tip, pushed or struck to cut wood. "She tapped the chisel to clean out the corner of the notch."
clamp A device that presses two parts together and holds them. "A clamp held the two boards while the glue dried."
claw hammer A nail driver with a split prong at the back for prying. "She pried the bent nail out with a claw hammer."
hand drill A hole-boring tool turned by a crank, not a motor. "He turned the handle of the hand drill to start the hole."
handsaw A blade edged with sharp teeth, driven by the arm alone. "The handsaw hung on a peg above the bench."
mallet A striker with a big block of wood or rubber for a head. "He knocked the joint together with a mallet."
plane A tool pushed along a board to shave it flat and smooth. "Curls of pine rolled out of the plane."
rasp A coarse bar whose separate sharp points shape wood. "A rasp rounded the corners of the toy boat."
screwdriver A handle and shaft for twisting fasteners in or out. "The hinge needed a screwdriver with a cross-shaped tip."
tape measure A flexible ribbon with length marks that coils up small. "The tape measure snapped back into its case."
try square Two arms fixed at 90 degrees, for testing corners. "He set the try square against the board and drew a line across."
vise A pair of jaws wound shut to hold an object for work. "The board sat tight in the vise while she sawed."

Show all 36 terms (24 more)

More hand tools 12

backsaw A fine-cutting blade stiffened by a rib along its top. "The backsaw left a clean, straight shoulder."
coping saw A narrow blade in a bow frame for curves and cut-outs. "She cut the puzzle pieces with a coping saw."
crosscut saw A toothed tool that severs wood fibers at right angles. "The crosscut saw took a foot off the end of the board."
file A hard steel bar cut with rows of teeth, for smoothing. "A few strokes of the file took the sharp corner off."
gouge A rounded cutting edge on a handle, for carving hollows. "She hollowed the spoon's bowl with a gouge."
hacksaw A metal-cutting tool, its blade pulled taut in a frame. "A hacksaw trimmed the metal rod to length."
jack plane The general bench tool that first levels rough boards. "A few passes of the jack plane took the rough skin off the oak."
marking gauge A tool that scores a line a set distance from an edge. "The marking gauge left a thin line down the edge."
miter box A guide that steers a saw to cut at an exact angle. "The frame's corners were cut in a miter box."
nail set A steel punch that sinks nail heads under the surface. "He tapped each nail head under with a nail set."
ripsaw A tool whose teeth cut lengthwise, following the fibers. "He split the wide plank in two with a ripsaw."
spirit level A bubble-in-liquid tool that tests for true horizontal. "The shelf looked straight until the spirit level said no."

In the workshop 12

bench hook A simple brace that keeps wood still on the worktable. "The bench hook kept the strip still for the cut."
burr A rough ridge left clinging where a tool has cut. "He rubbed the burr off the freshly sharpened blade."
end grain The face seen when wood is cut across its fibers. "You can count the rings in the end grain of the post."
grain The lines in a board that show which way its fibers lie. "The grain of the ash runs straight from end to end."
hand tool Any implement run by muscle, with no motor or engine. "The first project uses nothing but hand tools."
hone To sharpen a cutting edge on a fine stone. "She stopped to hone the chisel before the last cuts."
jig A custom-made guide that holds a part or steers a tool. "A simple jig let him drill every hole in the same spot."
offcut A spare scrap left after a board is trimmed to size. "She made a doorstop from an offcut of walnut."
sandpaper A sheet coated with rough grit for rubbing wood smooth. "She wrapped the sandpaper around a block."
sawhorse A stand with a crosspiece that props up a board. "Two sawhorses and an old door made a table for the day."
straightedge A stiff strip used to rule lines and test flatness. "Light under the straightedge showed the hollow in the board."
workpiece Whatever object is being cut or shaped at the moment. "He checked that the workpiece could not slip."

How this list was compiled: Term list chosen for this site on 2026-10-12. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day in two references: the entry for the term in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and the entry in the Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/). Miter box was read in Wiktionary under mitre box. Where the Cambridge Dictionary has no entry or no sense of woodworking, the reference is an article of English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Try square, Marking gauge, Coping saw, Backsaw, Ripsaw, Crosscut saw, Jack plane, Miter box, Bench hook, Sawhorse, Hand tool, Straightedge, Workpiece and Offcut for the terms they are named after; Drill for hand drill; Nailset for nail set; Wood grain for end grain; and Burr (edge) for burr. Details of a meaning rest on the articles Hacksaw, Tape measure, Mallet and Jig (tool). The answers under the list rest on the articles Ripsaw, Crosscut saw, Rasp, File (tool), Try square and Jack plane. The sentence in quotation marks after each meaning is our own. Licence: own work

How it works

On this woodworking hand tools vocabulary worksheet a class matches twelve tools to their meanings, which are printed in another order. Two more sets hold more hand tools and workshop words.

Read the full guide

Hand tools to match: chisel, plane, clamp, mallet

Set opens on Hand tools: chisel, plane, clamp, mallet, handsaw, claw hammer, screwdriver, try square, tape measure, rasp, vise and hand drill. More hand tools prints coping saw, backsaw, hacksaw, ripsaw, crosscut saw, jack plane, gouge, file, marking gauge, spirit level, nail set and miter box.

Workshop words: grain, sandpaper, workpiece

In the workshop has grain, sandpaper, end grain, workpiece, offcut, burr, bench hook, sawhorse, hone, jig, hand tool and straightedge. Under the tool each word has a sentence from a school shop, such as "Curls of pine rolled out of the plane."

Joints, kinds of wood and machines are on the woodshop word search.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between a rip saw and a crosscut saw?

A ripsaw cuts along the grain. The edges of its teeth are filed square to the cut, so they work like small chisels. A crosscut saw cuts across the grain, and its teeth are angled into points that slice like knives.

What is the difference between a rasp and a file?

A rasp is a coarse kind of file. Its teeth are cut one by one and stand apart, so it removes large amounts of material. The rough surface it leaves can then be smoothed with a file.

Why is it called a try square?

Because woodworkers try a board with it: they test that its faces and edges are flat, straight and at right angles to each other. Square in the name means the 90 degree angle.

What is a jack plane used for?

For bringing timber down to size before it is trued or its edges are jointed. It is a general-purpose bench plane, usually the first one put to rough stock, and no bench plane is more widely used.

All 36 terms

Hand tools 12

More hand tools 12

In the workshop 12

How it works

Hand tools to match: chisel, plane, clamp, mallet

Workshop words: grain, sandpaper, workpiece

Questions and answers

More tools