Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497)

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees (the "Board") of Nationwide Mutual Funds held on December 10, 2025, the Board approved the termination of WCM Investment Management, LLC ("WCM") as the subadviser to the Nationwide WCM Focused Small Cap Fund (the "Fund"), and the appointment of The Renaissance Group LLC, doing business as Renaissance Investment Management ("Renaissance") as the Fund's new subadviser, effective on or about February 16, 2026 (the "Effective Date"). As a result of the change in subadviser, Renaissance expects to transition the Fund's portfolio to its strategy (described below) and such transition, together with trading activity associated with potential shareholder redemptions, will lead to the Fund having significant embedded realized capital gains.

As of the Effective Date, the Prospectus is amended as follows:

All references to, and information regarding, WCM in the Prospectus are deleted in their entirety.

The Fund is renamed the "Nationwide Renaissance Small Cap Growth Fund." All references to the Fund's former name in the Prospectus are replaced accordingly.

All references to, and information regarding, Jonathon Detter, CFA, Anthony Glickhouse, CFA, and Patrick McGee, CFA are deleted in their entirety.

The table under the heading "Fees and Expenses" on page 46 of the Prospectus is hereby deleted and replaced with the following:

Class R6

Shares

Institutional

Service Class

Shares

Annual Fund Operating Expenses(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Other Expenses

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses

Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement⁽¹⁾

Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement

Nationwide Mutual Funds (the "Trust") and Nationwide Fund Advisors (the "Adviser") have entered into a written contract limiting annual fund operating expenses to 0.75% until at least February 28, 2027. Under the expense limitation agreement, the level to which operating expenses are limited applies to all share classes, excluding any taxes, interest, compensation payable to parties not affiliated with the Adviser for the recovery of tax reclaims, brokerage commissions, Rule 12b-1 fees, acquired fund fees and expenses, short-sale dividend expenses, administrative services fees, other expenses which are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and expenses incurred by the Fund in connection with any merger or reorganization, and may exclude other nonroutine expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business. The expense limitation agreement may be changed or eliminated only with the consent of the Board of Trustees of the Trust. The Adviser may request and receive reimbursement from the Fund for advisory fees waived or other expenses reimbursed by the Adviser pursuant to the expense limitation agreement at a date not to exceed three years from the date in which the corresponding waiver or reimbursement to the Fund was made. However, no reimbursement may be made unless: (i) the Fund's assets exceed $100 million and (ii) the total annual expense ratio of the class making such reimbursement is no higher than the amount of the expense limitation that was in place at the time the Adviser waived the fees or reimbursed the expenses and does not cause the expense ratio to exceed the current expense limitation. Reimbursement by the Fund of amounts previously waived or reimbursed by the Adviser is not permitted except as provided for in the expense limitation agreement.

The table under the heading "Example" on page 46 of the Prospectus is hereby deleted and replaced with the following:

Class A Shares

Class R6 Shares

Institutional Service Class Shares

The information under the heading "Principal Investment Strategies" on page 47 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

The Fund invests primarily in stocks of U.S. small-cap companies that exhibit growth characteristics. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of small-cap companies. For these purposes, small-cap companies are companies whose capitalizations are within the range of the market capitalizations of companies in the Russell 2000^® Growth Index. The subadviser makes market capitalization determinations with respect to a security at the time of purchase of such security.

The Fund's subadviser seeks to outperform the Russell 2000^® Growth Index over a full market cycle. The subadviser employs a disciplined, research-driven investment process to construct and manage a growth-oriented small cap growth portfolio. The subadviser defines growth stocks as companies whose earnings are expected to grow at an above-average rate relative to the overall market. The subadviser seeks to manage risk through diversification and systematic analysis of investment opportunities across multiple sectors and industries. The subadviser utilizes a proprietary stock selection process designed to identify securities that it believes trade at reasonable valuations supported by above-average corporate profitability and accelerating earnings growth.

Although the Fund maintains a diversified portfolio, it nonetheless may invest in a limited number of issuers. The subadviser may sell a stock if its fundamental characteristics (earnings growth,

The information under the heading "Principal Risks" beginning on page 47 of the Prospectus is modified as follows:

Each of "Sector risk," "Value style risk" and "Foreign securities risk" is deleted in its entirety.

The following risk is hereby added:

The section entitled "Performance" on page 48 of the Prospectus is supplemented to include the following:

The table under the section entitled "Performance - Average Annual Total Returns (for the Periods ended December 31, 2024)" on page 48 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

The information under the heading "Portfolio Management - Subadviser" on page 49 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

The table under the heading "Portfolio Management - Portfolio Managers" on page 49 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

Portfolio Manager

Title

Length of Service with

Fund

Paul A. Radomski, CFA

Since 2026

Curt Ludwick, CFA

Since 2026

Brad Zoltak, CFA

Since 2026

The information under the heading "How the Funds Invest - Principal Investment Strategies" on page 63 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

The information under the heading "How the Funds Invest - Key Terms" on page 63 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with following:

The information under the heading "How the Funds Invest - Principal Risks" on page 63 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

The information relating to WCM Investment Management, LLC under the heading "Fund Management - Subadvisers" on page 74 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

The information relating to the Fund under the heading "Fund Management - Portfolio Management" on page 76 of the Prospectus is deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

Shareholders of the Fund will receive an Information Statement in the near future, as required under the Trust's Manager of Managers Exemptive Order, with more detailed information about Renaissance.