medal vs award

medal and award both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
medal	Yes	No	No	No
award	Yes	No	Yes	No

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

medal: an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event
award: a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction

Other hypernyms of medal include accolade, honor, honour, laurels.

medal (noun)	award (noun)
an award for winning a championship or commemorating some other event	a grant made by a law court
	a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
	something given for victory or superiority in a contest or competition or for winning a lottery

medal (verb)	award (verb)
	give, especially as an honor or reward
	give as judged due or on the basis of merit