A theoretical and experimental analysis of beam dynamics and wave packet splitting of light in a periodically bent optical waveguide, a phenomenon recently observed [Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 073002 (2005)] which is the optical equivalent of adiabatic stabilization of atoms in intense and high-frequency laser fields, is presented in the multimode operational regime. Inhibition of wave packet splitting is theoretically predicted and experimentally observed for higher-order mode excitation.