Yeah ... sometimes the multiple ways are due to a difference in meaning:
Run (run to the store, run in a stocking, run slang for intestinal issue, run as in election, run as in water, run as in jog ...)
fall ( fall down/fall in love, fall for, fall aka autumn)
and then there's just variation in language ... due to subtle meaning shifts ...
the way we sign "love" (4 ways that I can think of)
or "Friend" (depending on how close they are)
and then casual variation
I happen to know 4 signs for battery , 2 for office, 2 for lunch & dinner, 2 for deaf ( the usual way, and the way IKJ signs it) etc
sometimes the variations are loaded (signed differently for a purpose) such as RUN, LOVE, FALL, etc.
and sometimes random - I sign lunch EAT+NOON , or "L" tapping my mouth area 2x - one is canadian, the other is what I learned in the USA - there's no reason I switch back an forth, I just do
