Final answer:
A catch clause can catch any exception that is part of the language's exception hierarchy, typically deriving from the base exception class. In Java, this includes errors and specific exceptions like IOException and SQLException, and one can use multi-catch or catch a common superclass to handle multiple types.
Step-by-step explanation:
The classes of exceptions that may be caught by a catch clause in most programming languages are determined by the language's type hierarchy of exceptions. Generally, a catch clause can catch any exception that inherits from the language's base exception class. In Java, for example, this base class is Throwable, which has two main subclasses: Error, which is used for serious errors from which the program should not try to recover, and Exception, which is meant for conditions that a program might want to catch and handle. Exception has further subclasses like IOException, SQLException, and many others that can be more specifically caught. Additionally, one can catch multiple exceptions in a single catch clause using either the multi-catch feature or by catching a common superclass of the exceptions you want to handle.