1. What do the following three-letter words have in common?

INK
HAT
ANT
ART
EAR

2. What do the following words have in common?

GAB
MIMIC
CARRY

Answers:

1. Each word can be preceded by W to form a new word:

WINK
WHAT
WANT
WART
WEAR 

2. Each word has a synonym that is also the name of an animal:

GAB - YAK
MIMIC - APE
CARRY - BEAR