The striker, 35, who began his career at York and went on to make 108 appearances for the club, is expected to go straight into manager Nigel Worthington's squad for Saturday's game at Torquay.
He has made 20 appearances for Sheffield United this season, but has found it increasingly difficult to force his way into Danny Wilson's starting line-up.
Cresswell signed his first professional contract at York in 1995 and scored 24 goals for the Minstermen before being sold to Sheffield Wednesday for £950,000 four years later.
He has since had spells at Leicester, Preston, Leeds, who paid £1.15 million for him in 2005, and Stoke before signing a permanent deal with Sheffield United in January 2010.
Boss Worthington has now made three signings since replacing Gary Mills as manager earlier this month, with goalkeeper Arron Jameson arriving on an emergency loan from Sheffield Wednesday and teenage midfielder Josh Carson joining on loan from Ipswich.
