Villa have been poor in front of goal with just 19 league goals in 30 games - the lowest in the division - with seven of those coming since Sherwood replaced Paul Lambert on February 14.
Gabriel Agbonlahor tops the club scoring charts with six, while Bent has seven in 11 appearances since arriving on loan at Derby County in January.
"He [Bent] is a goalscorer and if he gets chances he will score," Sherwood told the Birmingham Mail.
"I'd like to have him here now, put it that way. You can't have enough goalscorers in your building.
"I'm not sure what stage he went out. I would have looked at the options I had."
Bent's contract at Villa Park expires at the end of the season and he was expected to leave the club, however Sherwood has not made any decision on the striker's future.
"All the players who are not at the club right now are not my priority," he added.
"We'll have to see what the options are. I haven't looked at him that closely really."
