How To Pronounce Lead

The stress in lead moves depending on how the word is used.

Verb (guide). It is /liːd/ in British English and /liːd/ in American English, as in “to lead the team”.

Noun (metal). It is /led/ in British English and /led/ in American English, as in “made of lead”.

Slashes / / show the phonemic transcription, the sounds that change meaning. Square brackets [ ] show the phonetic transcription, with the finer detail of how the sounds are actually made.