Just putting the ohm meter on the battery won't really tell you anything about the fuses. Normally, when you cross or short a wire, the first thing that will happen is that you will shoot a fuse, so it's very likely that you have a blown fuse somewhere. I shorted a wire under the hood one time and shot the #10 fusible link. This was a large, light blue fusible link in the fuse box under the hood. When this fusible link blew, the engine would turn over easily, but it would not start.
Supposedly, you can look at the fuses or fusible links, and if the metal strip inside is melted or separated, the fuse is no good. Conversely, if the metal strip inside is intact, the fuse is supposed to be good. However, there can be a break in the metal that is not readily apparent to the eye. In this case, you can remove the fuse and check the conductance with an ohm meter from one leg of the fuse to the other. If the fuse is shot, you won't have any conductance through the fuse. Since you shorted the wire out enough to kill the engine, I suspect that if you really did blow the fuse, it will be readily apparent when you look at it.
