$omega$-Anhydride-functionalized poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) obtained from chain-end functionalization and anionic ring-opening polymerization of ethylene oxide using n-butyllithium with potassium t-butoxide in the presence of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) was found to be an efficient material for the preparation of water-soluble, polymeric pro-drugs. The reaction of $omega$-anhydride-functionalized PEO with sulfonamide or with vancomycin provided an efficient method to produce corresponding, water-soluble, PEO-conjugated sulfonamide or PEO-conjugated, vancomycin pro-drugs. These were used successfully to prepare water-dispersible, silver nanoparticles. In this study, the particle sizes were in the range of $5{sim}40$ nm. The resulting products were characterized by $^1H$ NMR spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, electron and X-ray diffraction, size exclusion chromatography, and UV/Visible spectroscopy.