I would expect a resistor that read around the correct resistance (taking into account the tolerance) to work correctly, so long as it is only operated within the specs (usually 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 watt etc).
If a resistor is 'bad', I would expect either very low, or very high reading when checked with multi-meter. Though if it is vastly different to the stated value, then it is not suitable for the application. . .
eg. a 330ohm resistor with 5% tolerance (gold band) could vary from 313.5ohm to 346.5ohm. so if you have a 330ohm, and meter reads it at say 400, then there's something wrong with it.