Led and lead are two words that cause great confusion in the English language.
When lead rhymes with feed, lead is a present tense verb.
Today Bob will lead the horse out to the corral.
I want to lead the band today.
Led is also a verb – the past tense of lead. Led rhymes with red.
Today you lead. Yesterday you led.
Today Bob will lead the horse out to the coral. Yesterday he led the horse to the barn.
I will lead the band today. I led the band yesterday.
Lead can also rhyme with red. When lead rhymes with red, lead is a noun for a heavy metal.
Car batteries are made with lead.
You run as if you have lead in your shoes.
We wear a lead vest for protection when we have mouth x-rays taken.
Just to make things more confusing, lead (rhymes with feed) can also be a noun.
In the race, the red car took the lead.
Mr. Smith has the lead in the race for mayor.
My sister has the lead in her school play.
Lead can rhyme with feed or red, and lead can be used as either a verb or a noun. The spelling is always exactly the same, and the only way to tell the words apart is to see how the word is used in the sentence. We call that “using context clues.” If the word lead is acting as a verb and showing action, then lead rhymes with feed. If the word lead is being used as the noun for a metal, make lead rhyme with red. If the word lead is being used as a noun meaning the star of a play or the person in front in a race, then lead rhymes with feed. Led is always a verb and always rhymes with red.