Sentence:  These three <WSD>were</WSD> much alike : lined snake ( Tropidoclonion ) , one year and nine months ; red-bellied snake ( Storeria ) , two years ; cottonmouth ( Ancistrodon ) , two years . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)