To develop reconfigurable manufacturing systems with a short changeover time, parallel mechanisms with multiple operation modes had received much attention from researchers. However, the current researches on multiple modes were mostly concentrated on the 3-DOF parallel mechanisms. A simple method of type synthesis and operation mode analysis for 4-DOF parallel mechanisms with both two-dimension translation and two-dimension rotational operation mode and three-dimension translation and one-dimension rotational operation mode was put forward. Type synthesis of 4-DOF parallel mechanisms was introduced based on the theory of position and orientation characteristics. And one family of 4-DOF parallel mechanisms with two operation modes was presented. Then, one topology was selected from the different possibilities of parallel manipulators after imposing some practical requirements. The selected parallel manipulator had instantaneously five degrees of freedom at the constraint singular configuration. The parallel manipulator must pass through singular configuration when it was switched from one operation mode to another. Redundant actuators were used to ensure that the parallel manipulator can pass through the singular configuration. Finally, the forward and inverse kinematic equations of the parallel manipulator with bifurcated motion in different operation modes were derived. The parallel manipulator presented was intended to be used in manufacturing application.