2D nanosheets such as graphene, silicene, phosphorene, metal dichalcogenides and MXenes are emerging and promising for lithium storage due to their ultrathin nature and corresponding chemical/physical properties. However, the serious restacking and aggregation of the 2D nanosheets are still hampering their applications. To circumvent the issues of 2D nanosheets, one efficient strategy is to construct 3D structures with hierarchical porous structures, good chemical/mechanical stabilities and tunable electrical conductivities. In this review, we firstly focus on the available synthetic approaches of 3D structures from 2D nanosheets, and then summarize the relationships between the microstructures of 3D structures built from 2D nanosheets and their electrochemical behaviors for lithium storage. On the basis of above results, some challenges are briefly discussed in the perspective of the development of various functional 3D structures.