Despite intensive debates regarding instrumental action and word meaning, few studies have examined their relationship. In this work, I first analyze the relationships between action and speech and between means-end and symbol-referent mapping. I then examine the mechanisms that are indispensable for means-end mapping and discussed whether the same mechanisms also enable symbol-referent mapping. Finally, I discuss the consistency between my findings with the results reported for children both with and without SPLD as well as the results of studies in animal communication. To conclude, I suggest that functional mechanisms underlying the capacity of understanding the means-end structure in action are necessary and in some cases sufficient for the capacity of understanding the symbol-referent relationship in language.