Nouns with a singular form and a singular or plural meaning (collective nouns)

Collective nouns, such as family and audience, have a singular form but can be followed by a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether we treat the group as a unit (singular) or as a number of individuals (plural):

My family is big.
His family were against his plans.

The audience was captivated by the performance.
This channel's target audience are young adults.

Other examples of collective nouns are:

board
committee
community
crew
crowd
government
group
jury
staff
team

Some collective nouns are often used with other countable nouns:

A team of researchers is working on this project.
A group of people were standing in front of the building.

A number of collective nouns are used with certain kinds of animals:

a colony of ants
a flock of sheep
a herd of cattle
a pack of wolves
a swarm of bees