Soil acts as a sink for a number of organic and inorganic pollutants, through which these enter into the food chain and become a potential source of human diseases. Heavy metal (Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn) and metalloid (As, Sb) contamination of soil resources is increasing due to natural and anthropogenic activities. Currently, metal(loid) accumulation is one of the most serious environmental concerns owing to their toxicity to crops. Agronomic crops, mainly cereals (wheat, Triticum aestivum; maize, Zea mays; rice, Oryza sativa), are cultivated on large area and, thereby, are more vulnerable to metal(loid) toxicity, affecting crop growth (seed germination, root/shoot length, and biomass), physiology (water relation, pigmentation, photosynthetic machinery), and metabolic processes (reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation, protein degradation). However, to counter these anomalies, crops are equipped with antioxidants (CAT, POD, SOD, APX, GR, proline, phenolics) to detoxify metal-induced ROS and proteins (phytochelatins, PCs; metallothioneins, MTs) to sequester metal(loid)s. Thus, further insight into these processes is important to exploit better metal-contaminated areas for raising crops, generate revenue, and feed ever-increasing population. Therefore, we present an overview of heavy metal(loid) pollution in soil; their toxicity to cereals (wheat, maize, rice) at morphological, physiological, and cellular levels; and their tolerance mechanisms. At the end, we explore the symbiotic association of cereal crops to a microbe in scavenging metal toxicity.