Silicon is the most promising anode material for the next generation high- performance lithium ion batteries. However, its commercial application is hindered by its poor performance due to the huge volume change during cycling. Although two-dimensional silicon-based materials show significantly improved performance, flexible synthesis of such materials is still a challenge. In this work, silicon-based nanosheets with a multilayer structure are synthesized for the first time by a topochemical reaction. The morphology and oxidation state of these nanosheets can be controlled by appropriate choice of reaction media and oxidants. Benefiting from the hierarchical structure and ultrathin size, when the silicon-based nanosheets are employed as anodes they exhibit a charge （delithiation） capacity of 800 mAh/g after 50 cycles with a maximum coulombic efficiency of 99.4% and good rate performance （647 mAh/g at 1 A/g）. This work demonstrates a novel method for preparing nanosheets not only for lithium ion batteries but also having various potential applications in other fields, such as catalysts, electronics and photonics.