It's often used to describe things that are not the same, or that are composed of different parts.
Here are some examples:
* Heterogeneous: Made up of different parts or elements.
* Heterosexual: Attracted to people of a different gender.
* Heterotrophic: An organism that obtains food from other organisms.
* Heterozygous: Having two different alleles for a particular gene.
* Heteronym: A word that is spelled the same as another but has a different meaning and pronunciation.
So, the next time you see the root "hetero" in a word, think of "different" or "other" to understand its meaning.