Free radicals possess high chemical reactivity and have been employed in radical polymerization and some organic synthesis routes. Due to the high reactivity and poor controllability, radical reactions are not widely employed in polymer reactions and functionalization. As the first step to functionalize inert polymers chains, which do not possess any chemically reactive sites, is chemical activation, the highly reactive radicals should be of potential for polymer functionalization. In this article, some developed radical reaction-based polymerization functionalization approaches are discussed, including ozone-mediated formation of peroxide groups at polymer chains as radical precursors, integration of controlled radical reactions and radical transfer reaction in polymer functionalization, and radical-mediated polymer reactions with sulfur elements.