Significance Large DNA-encoded libraries of cyclic peptides are emerging as powerful sources of molecules to tackle challenging drug targets. The structural and functional diversity contained within these libraries is, however, little explored. Here we demonstrate that one such library contains members that use unexpectedly diverse mechanisms to recognize the same surface on the same target proteins with high affinity and specificity. This range of binding modes is much larger than observed in natural ligands of the same proteins, demonstrating the power and versatility of the technology. Our data also reveal opportunities for the development of more sophisticated approaches to achieving specificity when trying to selectively target one member of a family of closely related proteins.