penance vs penalty

penance and penalty both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
penance	Yes	No	No	No
penalty	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, penalty is a hypernym of penance; that is, penalty is a word with a broader meaning than penance:

Other hypernyms of penance include penalisation, penalization, punishment.

penance (noun)	penalty (noun)
voluntary self-punishment in order to atone for some wrongdoing	the act of punishing, or the infliction of a penalty
a Catholic sacrament; repentance and confession and atonement and absolution	the disadvantage or painful consequences of an action or condition
remorse for your past conduct	(games) a handicap or disadvantage that is imposed on a competitor (or a team) for an infraction of the rules of the game
	a payment required for not fulfilling a contract