mates vs family

mates and family both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
mates	Yes	No	No	No
family	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, family is a hypernym of mates; that is, family is a word with a broader meaning than mates:

Other hypernyms of mates include family unit.

mates (noun)	family (noun)
a pair of people who live together	primary social group; parents and children
	people descended from a common ancestor
	a social unit living together
	(biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera
	a collection of things sharing a common attribute
	an association of people who share common beliefs or activities
	a loose affiliation of gangsters in charge of organized criminal activities
	a person having kinship with another or others