Penalty
Punishment
noun, suffix
The kanji and the word are exactly the same. That means they share meanings as well.
ばつ
The reading is the same as the reading you learned with the kanji... and you thought I was about to punish you because it was a single kanji vocab word. Now get over here. Time for a dirty spanking for thinking such a thing.
クラスの生徒全員がカンニングで罰を受けたなんて、信じられない。
I can’t believe that all the students in the class received punishment for cheating.