Medal of Honor vs medal

Medal of Honor and medal both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
Medal of Honor	Yes	No	No	No
medal	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, medal is a hypernym of Medal of Honor; that is, medal is a word with a broader meaning than Medal of Honor:

Medal of Honor: the highest U.S. military decoration awarded for bravery and valor in action `above and beyond the call of duty'
medal: an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event

Other hypernyms of Medal of Honor include decoration, laurel wreath, medallion, palm, ribbon.

Medal of Honor (noun)	medal (noun)
the highest U.S. military decoration awarded for bravery and valor in action `above and beyond the call of duty'	an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event