Phosphorus (P) sorption in sediments plays a significant role in trophic status of a lake. This study investigated the characteristics of P sorption in sediments from three lakes with different trophic statuses (moderately eutrophic, lightly eutrophic, and moderately trophic) through kinetic, batch equilibrium, and thermodynamic experiments. Results show that pseudo-second-order kinetics best describe P sorption in sediments from the three lakes. Fitting by modified Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms indicate that the moderately trophic lake sediments has higher sorption capacity (maximum of 0.848 mg g-1 at 35 °C) than the sediments of the other two lakes at different temperatures (5, 15, 25, and 35 °C). Thermodynamic results indicate that the process of P sorption of the three sediments are spontaneous, entropy-driven, and endothermic reactions. The risk of P release in sediments was analyzed according to the calculated results of isotherms combined with the change in P fraction. Sediments from the moderately eutrophic lake act as a source in summer. The lightly eutrophic and moderately trophic lakes act as sources in spring and winter, and a pool in summer and autumn, respectively. Furthermore, the amounts of reductant-soluble P (RS-P), calcium bound P (Ca-P), and iron bound P (Fe-P) are significantly related to the sorption capacity of sediments from the three lakes (p<0.05). The different sediments have the different P release risk, and P fraction in sediment is one of the significant factors of P sorption.