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Due to linguistic diversity within South Africa, multilingualism is becoming increasingly prominent. As a result, educational and cognitive implications have been noted. Research indicates that the acquisition of additional languages to an individual’s mother tongue has an effect on working memory. Consequently, the aim of this study was to determine whether working memory ability differs significantly between students who are monolingual or multilingual, while statistically controlling for intellectual ability between these groups. Participants were 78 undergraduate students, comprising English first- (monolingual) and second- or additional-language (multilingual) speakers, matched for age, gender and socio-economic status. Language groups were compared on their performance on the Automated Working Memory Assessment (Alloway, 2007) and subtests of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (Wechsler, 1997). One-way between-groups ANCOVAs showed that composite memory components of verbal working memory, visuo-spatial short-term memory and visuo-spatial working memory differed significantly between the language groups in favour of the multilinguals, and multilinguals outperformed monolinguals on seven of 12 working memory subtests, namely Digit Recall, Listening Recall, Mazes Memory, Block Recall, Odd One Out, Mister X and Spatial Recall. The findings contribute to the extent literature confirming a “bilingual advantage,†whereby theoretical and practical implications are highlighted in light of academic performance.