The trophic status and development of lake system is significantly influenced by the phosphate sorption at the sediment-water interface. The effects of organic matter, particle size and ionic strength on the phosphate sorption by sediments were investigated in this study. The results show that maximum phosphate sorption capacity (Qmax), equilibrium phosphate concentration (EPC0), phosphate sorption efficiency (k) and phosphate sorption rate decreased as particle size increased for all the studied sediments. But the reliable desorbed phosphorus (RDP) increased. Qmax, EPC0, k and RDP of different particle size fractions varied and there were no obvious differences among different trophic lake sediments. Qmax, EPC0 increased while k and RDP decreased as the pollution level of lake sediment increased. The phosphate sorption mainly occurred within 0.5 h. Power function and simple Elovich models were the best kinetic models for the phosphate sorption of the different particle size fractions. Qmax and phosphate sorption rate decreased with the decreasing of organic matter content of sediments and the increasing of ionic strength. This study suggests that ionic strength and organic matter had similar effects on the phosphate sorption for different trophic lake sediments.