In this work, we have reported nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of different nanostructures of Ag, namely spherical, nanopentagon, and nanowire, synthesized by single pot chemical technique. NLO properties are measured by open and closed aperture Z-scan techniques at 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser wavelength having pulsed duration of 10 ns. The synthesized Ag nanostructures are exhibiting the rarely reported two-photon induced three-photon absorption along-with self-defocusing nonlinear refraction. A plausible explanation of the observed NLO properties owing to shape variations has been presented. The materials are also exhibiting optical limiting effect making them suitable for applications in advanced photonic devices. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.