Robin McDaniel used his or her keyboard to write :
I accidentally let the two screwed wire terminals in a socket fall out of the
socket. I know that the gold one is for the hot wire and the silver is for
neutral....but once they have fallen out of the socket, how do I know which
slot they each properly go back into?

Sometimes one can wiggle the center contact and see which terminal
wiggles - but a continuity check is the best way. even without a
multimeter you can use a wire and a disassembled flashlight for
continuity checks.