<p>This study investigated the difficulty students encounter when trying to translate polysemous words, as polysemy is often overlooked by teachers of translation and by the curriculum itself. This practice naturally leads students to opt for word-for-word translation as they are unaware of the polysemic nature of certain words. Thus, the aim of the present study was to test a potential solution to improve translation instruction. For this purpose, a pre-/post-test design was employed. Participants consisted of 16 Saudi students from the male campus of Majmaah University, who were asked to translate English sentences containing polysemous words into Arabic. They translated 20 sentences in the pre-test and 30 sentences in the post-test. In the pre-test, participants translated nearly half the sentences inaccurately, using the primary meanings of words instead of their secondary meanings. Next, they were given instruction on polysemous words with examples. After the treatment, they were given a post-test, in which their performance with secondary meanings improved, translating 81% of sentences correctly. The study therefore recommends drawing students’ attention to polysemous words, presenting examples to show the importance of using secondary meanings when appropriate, and having students practice using the dictionary effectively in class. This is expected to enhance students’ competence in translation as well as improve their vocabulary and language skills as a whole.</p>