Question about multiple monitors and Windows 11

Right now I just have a single monitor attached to the HDMI port.  But I would like to eventually add more - I note that the documentation talks about support for up to 4 monitors, and it seems to suggest using a Thunderbolt dock for this purpose.  But there are many Thunderbolt docks that are out there, supporting varying number of monitors.

So my question is, if I start using a Thunderbolt dock, can I still use the HDMI port for one of the monitors?  Do all of the monitors need to be on the Thunderbolt dock?  Or can I just attach monitors in any way that I happen to find convenient?

The reason I ask is that a dock that supports 4 monitors is a lot more expensive than a dock that supports 2 or 3, so I would like to know more about any restrictions related to monitors and how one connects them.