Sound-alike words

Cue vs. Queue

Cue is a signal to do something, or the stick used in pool. Queue is a line of people or things waiting their turn. An actor waits for a cue; shoppers wait in a queue.

Word	Part of speech	Meaning
cue	noun	a signal for someone to do something, or a hint about how to behave
cue	noun	the long stick used to hit the ball in pool or billiards
queue	noun	a line of people or things waiting their turn
queue	verb	to wait in line, or to put items in order to be dealt with later

Cue

noun: a signal for someone to do something, or a hint about how to behave

The drummer's nod was our cue to start the song.
Take your cue from the host and dress casually.

noun: the long stick used to hit the ball in pool or billiards

Felix chalked his cue before the final shot.
The pool hall rents cues by the hour.

Queue

noun: a line of people or things waiting their turn

The queue for the new ride took almost an hour.
There are twenty songs waiting in my playlist queue.

verb: to wait in line, or to put items in order to be dealt with later

Fans queued outside the stadium all morning.
You can queue several videos to watch later.

How to remember the difference

Queue looks like a line of letters waiting their turn: q, then u-e-u-e standing in a row. Cue is short and quick, like a signal.

Good to know

In American English, people usually say line and wait in line; queue is more common in British English. Americans do use queue for computers and streaming, as in a print queue. Both queuing and queueing are accepted spellings.

Spot the mistake

The lights went down, which was the audience's ~~queue~~ cue to stop talking.
Correct: The lights went down, which was the audience's cue to stop talking.
My print job is stuck in the ~~cue~~ queue behind a huge file.
Correct: My print job is stuck in the queue behind a huge file.

Check yourself

Pick the word that fits each sentence.

1. The director gave the and the music started.

2. There was a long of trucks waiting at the border.