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A nuclear reactor produces both energy and neutrons. With the right conditions, those neutrons can be used to produce new isotopes.
In a thorium reactor, 232Th absorbs a neutron to become 233Th. This has a 22 minute half life, decaying to 233Pa, which itself has a 27 day half life, decaying to 233U. 233U is fissile and can be used as fuel for the reactor.
235U is also fissile and can be used for fuel, but this is generally obtained by processing natural uranium to select the <1% of the material that’s 233U. This process is called enrichment.
Plutonium breeder reactors make 239Pu by irradiating 238U to capture a neutron. This undergoes a similar decay process as in the thorium fuel cycle: 239U -> 239Np -> 239Pu.