Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most important staple crops worldwide. Sharp eyespot, mainly caused by the necrotrophic fungus Rhizoctonia cerealis, has become one of the most serious soil-borne diseases of wheat in many regions of the world, including China. To highly-efficient improve wheat resistance to sharp eyespot, it is vital to isolate key resistance-associated genes and unravel their molecular mechanisms. Recently, we identified several receptor-like kinase-encoding genes with positive regulatory roles in defense responses to R. cerealis infection in wheat, including TaWAK7D, TaWAK6D, TaWAK2A, TaCRK3, and TaRK-5B. Expression levels of these genes were elevated by infection of Rhizoctonia cerealis, and higher in resistant wheat cultivars than susceptible wheat cultivars. Virus-induced gene silencing and disease assessment suggested that TaWAK7D, TaWAK6D, TaWAK2A, TaCRK3, and TaRK-5 are required for defense responses to Rhizoctonia cerealis and the expression of certain defense genes in wheat. TaWAK7D, TaWAK6D, TaWAK2A, TaCRK3, or TaRK-5 individually localizes at the plasma membrane in wheat. TaCRK3 protein and its partial peptide harboring two DUF26 domains could inhibit growth of R. cerealis mycelia. Moreover, TaRK-5 overexpression in transgenic wheat significantly enhanced resistance to sharp eyespot and increased the expression levels of a subset of wheat defense-associated genes, suggesting that TaRK-5 is a promising gene for breeding wheat varieties with resistance to R. cerealis. These results suggest that multiple receptor-like kinases in bread wheat participate in host resistance responses to Rhizoctonia cerealis.