USING AN OHM METER ACROSS CONTACTS?

I have a two position combination push button that activates a shear on a machine.In one position,when you push the button the shear will single stroke. In the other position it is supposed to "inch" through the cycle. The single stroke works but when I put it in inch the button does not work. Thinking the switch may be bad, I tried jumping the contact with a wire but it did not work. However,when I used my ohm meter and touched the contact terminals off and on it did inch. Why is this?