playing vs bowling

playing and bowling both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
playing	Yes	No	No	No
bowling	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, bowling is a hyponym of playing; that is, bowling is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than playing:

Other hyponyms of playing include catching, golfing, pitching, cheesing.

playing (noun)	bowling (noun)
the action of taking part in a game or sport or other recreation	a game in which balls are rolled at an object or group of objects with the aim of knocking them over or moving them
the act of playing a musical instrument	the playing of a game of tenpins or duckpins etc
the performance of a part or role in a drama	(cricket) the act of delivering a cricket ball to the batsman