You would need to add some signal conditioning circuitry in front of the meter:

http://www.williamson-labs.com/555-circuits.htm#tach

Thanks, Roger--- that's a little out of my league. I guess I'll pay someone to do it for me, i.e., buy a tach or timing light/tach... but good info as usual.

I found that tradervar.com has the Actron digital multi-meter w/tach for $29.99

Features

• Easy-to-read digital LCD display 3-1/2 digit, .8" high
  Detachable heat-resistant, color coded leads with booted alligator clips
  Automatic reverse polarity indication
  Overload protection on all ranges
  Automatic zero adjust on all functions
  Shock Resistant
  Water Resistant
  Auto power off
  Color Coded Detachable Leads
  Complete Instructions in English and Spanish

Functions

• DC Amps 0-15
  DC Millivolts
  DC Volts 0-2, 0-20, 0-200
  Ohms 0-200, 0-2000, 0-20.000, 0-200.000
  Hi Tachometer 0-10,000 RPM on 4, 5, 6, 8 Cylinder Engines
  Low Tachometer 0-1999 RPM on 4, 5, 6, 8 Cylinder Engines
  Dwell 4 cyl. 0-90, 5 cyl. 0-72, 6 cyl. 0-60, 8 cyl. 0-45
  Diode Test
  Duty Cycle 0-100%

I'm not connected in any way with the seller. -- Matt

Rodger, you sure? The coil is a pulsed to ground system, so why can't you get a RPM reading from the coil directly?

Precisely because it is pulsed. A typical volt meter will just show typically 1/2 the battery voltage or whatever dwell cycle is on the system. To get an RPM reading, you need to read the frequency of the pulses (i.e. how fast they are being generated) not the voltage or current. An analog tach (as pictured in the above schematic) integrates the pulses over time and produces a current that is proportional to the RPM, a full description on my web page:
http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/CheapTricks/Tachometer/index.shtml#Theory

A digital tach likely reads the time between pulses and inverts that period to calculate revs per unit time.

I went to autozone and paid $50 for a Digital VOM with a tachometer and dwell meter built in. It was worth it and works great for everything electrical in my truck It is orange and blue, but I dont remmember what brnad, although Actron sounds like it.

Did it look like this?