Stain or Paint?
With exterior products especially, it is easy to confuse stain and paint. A solid stain looks very similar to paint in the can. Both have a lot of color, and neither allows the grain to show through. A stain will let the texture be more visible, though, while a paint coats the surface with a thicker coat, concealing some of the irregularities of the surface.

With interior finishes, it should be easy to tell whether you have a paint or a stain. If the woodgrain is clearly visible, then you probably are dealing with a stain. There are a few interior stains available that have tints that are other than just the basic browns and dark browns, so it pays to notice what it is you are trying to match.