Aquatic plants play a significant role in water purification, landscape design, heavy metal pollution remediation, and lake ecological restoration. With the accelerating process of urbanization and the implementation of rural revitalization strategies, the demand for polluted water body remediation continues to increase. In particular, under the national strategy of ecological civilization construction in China, the application of aquatic plant-based restoration technologies faces higher requirements. This article reviews the classification, pollutant purification mechanisms, application fields, key parameters, and precautions involved in the use of aquatic plants for water body restoration. The research shows that aquatic plants remove and purify pollutants through direct absorption and assimilation, rhizosphere filtration, and plant volatilization, as well as indirectly by promoting microbial metabolism. Based on the different life forms and ecological niches of aquatic plants, their application in polluted water body remediation varies. Water ecological landscape restoration mainly focuses on the recovery of emergent plants, rhizogenic floating plants, and floating plants. In contrast, aquatic ecosystem restoration emphasizes the restoration of submerged macrophyte communities and their diversity, thereby gradually restoring the complete food web structure and ensuring stable and healthy water quality. Furthermore, the potential for integrating aquatic plant restoration technologies with new ecological restoration techniques is discussed. It is also recommended that further research be conducted on the succession patterns of plant communities within aquatic plant systems to enhance the efficiency and stability of pollutant removal.