Sentence:  Particularly was this true when the norms previously applied were no longer satisfactory to <WSD>many</WSD> , when customs were rapidly changing as the forces of the new productivity were harnessed . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `as' or `too' or `so' or `that'; amounting to a large but indefinite number