This study shows physicists' discussions on the meaning of Faraday's law where situations involving extended conductors or moving contact points are particularly troublesome. We raise questions to test students' difficulties in applying Faraday's law in motional electromotive force phenomena. We suggest the benefit of analysing these phenomena when teaching Faraday's law in introductory physics courses at university. We are not implying that Faraday's law should be revised, but we do want to set the stage for careful rethinking regarding the meaning and application of each term of the law as it appears in traditional introductory courses. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)