Probably does not need to be said, but in case it's not obvious, you need to create the complete circuit with just the resistor, then use the multimeter to test the voltage accross the resistor *in parallel* with the resistor... you are not achieving anuthing by testing the voltage in series with the resistor..... (the volt-meter by definition has a very high internal resistance (very very high....), thus, testing in series with the resistor is pretty much the same as testing the battery without the resistor at all....

gus