If you have the sound chuan but not the character, here are the 3 characters read this way: 穿 (chuān, to pierce, to bore through, to wear, to put on), 船 (chuán, ship, boat, vessel), 传 (chuán, to pass on, transmit, spread; (zhuan) a biography, a commentary). They split across 2 tones, so the tone is what separates them.