Generally means in most cases or usually, but not always. When your teacher says homework is generally due on Fridays, she means that's the normal pattern, though sometimes it might be different. When someone says it generally rains a lot in April, they mean April is typically rainy, even though some April days will be sunny.

The word helps you describe patterns without claiming something is absolutely true every single time. If you say you generally like vegetables, you're admitting there might be a few you don't enjoy. If the school bus generally arrives at 7:45, everyone knows it usually comes then, but occasionally it might be a few minutes early or late.

Generally is useful when you want to be accurate without overstating things. Instead of saying “everyone loved the movie” (which is probably not true), you could say “people generally loved the movie,” which is both honest and fair. It's a word that shows you're thinking carefully about what's typical versus what's universal.

You might also hear people use generally speaking at the start of a sentence to introduce a broad observation: “Generally speaking, cats are more independent than dogs.”