Choosing and 'cleaving'

In a recent arts inquiry, the idea of ‘cleaving’ came up. It's a bit of an old-fashioned word and has two meanings that are almost opposite:

• To ‘cleave from’ is to separate; like an iceberg falling from an ice-flow.

• To ‘cleave to’ means to stick very closely.

The introduced plant ‘cleavers’ (Galium aparine or bedstraw) is of the ‘stick closely’ variety with leaves and fruits covered in tiny, hooked prickles that stick to clothing. There are native Galium species too, and the closely related Woodruffs are also sticky.

I wonder about the relationship between what we cleave from, and what we cleave to? When we choose something do we also 'not choose' something else?

Image: (Common Woodruff, Asperula conferta)