Map Keys and Legends Worksheet
Grade 2 students match map symbols to their meanings, fill in blanks about map keys, and decide if statements about legends are true or false.
12 questions · Matching · Fill in the blank · True or false · Recognition
Reading a map key is one of the first map skills young learners need. A map key, also called a legend, is the small box on a map that explains what every symbol or color stands for. Without it, a river, a road, and a park would all look like shapes with no meaning. This worksheet gives Grade 2 students practice matching symbols to their definitions, using a word bank to complete sentences about map keys, and checking whether statements about legends are true or false. It works well as a classroom introduction, a homework review, or a quick check for understanding after a map skills lesson. No printed map is needed — all the information students need is built into each question.
Map Keys and Legends Worksheet — Grade 2
Read each part carefully. Use the clues to help you answer every question.
Word bank
- legend
- park
- school
- symbol
Remember
- A map key, also called a legend, shows what each symbol on a map means.
- Symbols are small pictures or shapes. Each one stands for a real place or thing.
- When you read a map, always check the key first so you know what you are looking at.
Part A — Match each map symbol to its meaning
Draw a line from each symbol on the left to its meaning on the right.
Choose from
- A. a campground
- B. a river or water
- C. a road
- D. a forest or park
- E. a capital city
- 1.
A blue wavy line on a map key
- 2.
A small green tree on a map key
- 3.
A yellow star on a map key
- 4.
A thick red line on a map key
- 5.
A small tent on a map key
Part B — Fill in the blank
This map key shows: red square = school, green circle = park. Use the word bank to fill in each blank.
- 6.
Another name for a map key is a ____.
- 7.
A small picture in a map key is called a ____.
- 8.
On the map, a green circle stands for a ____.
- 9.
On the map, a red square stands for the ____.
Part C — True or False
Read each sentence. Write True if it is correct. Write False if it is not.
- 10.
A map key tells you what each symbol on a map means.
- 11.
A yellow star on a map always means a park.
- 12.
A map legend and a map key are two different things.
Answer key
Part A — Match each map symbol to its meaning
- 1.a river or water
- 2.a forest or park
- 3.a capital city
- 4.a road
- 5.a campground
Part B — Fill in the blank
- 6.legend
- 7.symbol
- 8.park
- 9.school
Part C — True or False
- 10.True
- 11.False - a yellow star on a map usually means a capital city.
- 12.False - a map legend and a map key are the same thing.
What this sheet teaches
- Match common map symbols to their meanings using a map key.
- Use a word bank to fill in missing words about map keys and legends.
- Decide whether a statement about a map key or legend is true or false.
Notes for the adult
- Students often confuse the map key with the map itself — watch for students pointing to symbols instead of the key box.
- Hold up a simple map and cover the key, then uncover it to show how much easier the map becomes to read.
- A student is ready to move on when they can name two symbols and explain what each one stands for.
What is on the page
Map Keys and Legends Worksheet is in three parts and comes to twelve exercises in total. Matching, fill-in-the-blank and true or false work, in that order, so a student who has understood the material has to show it in more than one form before the page is finished.
Part A Match each map symbol to its meaning sets five items against five lettered options, one lettered option per item, which means the last pair can be reached by elimination. Part B Fill in the blank is fill-in-the-blank work off a printed word bank — four words for four blanks, an exact fit. Part C True or False puts three statements up to be judged true or false, answered on the rule beside each one.
What it asks of the student
Map Keys and Legends Worksheet puts about 229 words of reading in front of the student — the fact box, the directions, every question, and every printed option. That is the number worth checking against a class before it goes out, because a sheet that is pitched right on the history and wrong on the reading fails for the same child either way. The longest single prompt on it runs to 12 words.
Nothing on Map Keys and Legends Worksheet is answered on ruled lines — every response goes in a blank, against a printed option, or on the rule beside the question — so the whole of it fits on one side of paper and the full answer key runs to 46 words.
Where this one sits
Map Keys and Legends Worksheet is one of nine Map Skills sheets on this site and one of three written for grade 2. two of them share its topic, map keys and legends, which is worth knowing before printing two that overlap.
The closest things to it are Map Scale and Distance Worksheet (grade 5) and Scale and Distance: Bar Scale and Map Proportion (grade 6). If Map Keys and Legends Worksheet lands well, those are the ones to reach for next; if it lands badly, the recognition sheets a grade either side are usually the adjustment rather than a different topic altogether.
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Map Keys and Legends at other grades
This sheet: Grade 2, 12 questions — matching, fill in the blank, true or false. The same topic is also written for:
- Map Keys and Legends Worksheet — Grade 3 · 12 questions, matching, fill in the blank, multiple choice · application work