Are Sheol, Hades, and hell the same thing in the Bible?
According to the biblical usage described here, Sheol, Hades, and hell refer to the same place. The Old Testament Hebrew term is Sheol; the Greek term is Hades; the English rendering is hell. Each denotes the abode of those who have departed this life, the realm of the dead.
Les explains that Luke 16 gives another further description of this subject—a little window—by recounting the rich man and Lazarus. The beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom; the rich man also died, was buried, and was in hell. Les notes that in the Old Testament the Hebrew word was Sheol, in the Greek it was Hades, all meaning the same thing, and in the English it is hell. All three words simply describe the abode of those who had departed this life. He adds that this helps understand what Paul now teaches regarding paradise compared to what it was in the Old Testament and during Christ's earthly ministry.
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
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What did Sheol or Hades mean in the Bible?
All three words (Sheol, Hades, hell) simply referred to the abode of those who had departed this life.