Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. In some wireless communications systems, a base station may transmit downlink control information (DCI) messages to a user equipment (UE). A DCI message may be transmitted using a particular DCI format based on the type of control information included in the DCI message. In some cases, different types of control information may be transmitted using the same DCI format. In such cases, one or more bit fields in a DCI format may be useful to a UE for one type of control information but may not be useful to a UE for another type of control information. As described herein, in order to limit the overhead associated with control information transmissions, a base station may support techniques for utilizing these bit fields in a DCI format to transmit information corresponding to the type of control information being transmitted.