A great number of studies which focused on the meaning of the built environment pointed out that buildings convey meaning with their components. In the examination of the meaning of a building these studies generally used components such as, form, size, color and style. However this study looks at the symbolic meaning of building materials which were used in the shaping of the built environment and which were thought to be conveying meaning. The subject matter of the study is both the determination and comparison of the meanings that façade finishing materials themselves convey free from their function and the meanings that they convey when used on a building which is shaped in relation to its function. Within this framework the study composed of three stages. The meanings of the materials themselves were determined in the first stage, the meanings of the materials which are used on a functional building were determined in the second stage and the meanings which are obtained in the first and second stages were compared in the last stage of the study. In this way; through the comparison of the meanings that materials convey, it was questioned if the conveyed meanings of the materials differ in relation to function or not. A survey study was conducted to evaluate the conveyed meanings of the materials through the use of semantic differentiation scales. 21 Adjective pairs were selected and used in all phases of the survey. The subject group consisted of 14 academics working at Çukurova University, Department of Architecture, showing a homogenous character in terms of their education, income level and profession. For the comparison of the changes in the meaning, dwelling was selected as the functional building type because of it is considered as a building type which reflects its users’ identity naturally. A large number of studies on the meaning of dwelling reveal that qualities of dwelling convey meanings about its user’s characteristics. Façade finishing materials which are used at dwellings are also thought to be conveying meanings about their users. Therefore; in order to be able to follow the changes in the meanings that materials convey in relation to function, the conveyed meaning is inquired through the characteristics of the users of the dwellings. At this stage of the study; the subjects are requested to evaluate the personal characteristics of the users by considering the materials used in the dwelling. In this way it is intended to ascertain the meanings that materials convey in relation to their use in the dwelling. The images of the dwellings and materials themselves obtained by using simulation techniques instead of using the images of previously built dwellings. In this way it is aimed to prevent the subjects’ evaluations to be influenced from the form, style and size of the dwelling. Five different building materials were selected for the study; stone, wood, plaster, brick and composite materials. Meanings of the materials which are used on the dwellings are mainly obtained depending on the characteristics of the constructed users of the simulated dwellings. These meanings are compared with the meanings that the materials themselves convey. With the comparison of materials themselves and materials in relation to function, clear findings were reached that the conveyed meaning changes. For example; subjects evaluated stone as the material which conveys the meaning of impolite most. On the other hand plaster was evaluated as the material that conveys the meaning of impolite most when used on a dwelling. It is assumed, that, regardless of function, subjects evaluated the meaning of stone as impolite regarding to its nature. However when evaluation was made in relation to function, the subjects evaluated the constructed user of the dwelling and taken impoliteness as a negative personal characteristic. As a result they have described impoliteness with plaster to which they ascribed negative meanings. With these results it is confirmed that the conveyed meaning of a material can change in relation to function and façade finishing materials of a dwelling can affect the evaluation of the characteristics of the users. Furthermore it was determined that; meanings of materials emanate from physical characteristics of materials and whether the material is natural or artificial affect these meanings. In conclusion the findings of the study designate the direction of differentiations in the conveyed meanings of the chosen materials. Also the results give us some clues about the appropriate functions in which different materials could be used.