In the play store there are two ways to do that. You can tap on the "hamburger" menu top left or swipe right the side menu. Then select home, your apps or whatever you want.
The problem is that those appear *only* on the home screen. If you're about 15 apps deep into the store, you have to back out step by step.
Powered by CM12 and Skittles.
Strange. I can open the side menu no matter how many apps deep I am. Just make sure to start the swipe from the left edge. It should work.