Meinrad was a son of Prince Maximilian I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1636–1689) from his marriage to Maria Clara (1635–1715), the daughter of Count Albert of Berg-s'-Heerenberg. He was still a minor when he succeeded his father in 1689 and initially, he stood under the guardianship of his mother and his uncle Franz Anton, Count of Hohenzollern-Haigerloch.

He studied at the University of Ingolstadt and embarked on a military career. He fought in the Battle of Vienna, the Hungarian rebellion and the Nine Years' War. In 1692, Emperor Leopold I raised the Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern to Imperial Princes, under the condition that they would practice primogeniture in the future, i.e. they were not allowed to increase the number of imperial princes by further subdividing their principalities. In 1695, Meinrad II concluded a treaty of inheritance with the Elector of Brandenburg: if either the Swabian or the Brandenburg line of Hohenzollern were to die out, then the other line would inherit their territories.

In 1702, Meinrad's uncle Francis Anthony died. Both his sons had joined the clergy, so Hohenzollern-Haigerloch fell back to Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

In 1708, Meinrad founded a blast furnace works in Laucherthal (now part of Sigmaringendorf), which is now owned by Zollern GmbH, a company which is still partially owned by the descendants of the Princes of Hohenzollern.

On 22 November 1700 in Sigmaringen, he married Johanna Katharina von Montfort, (1678–1759), a daughter of Count John Anthony I of Montfort-Tettnang. They had the following children:

• Joseph Friedrich Ernst (1702–1769), his successor, married:
  1. in 1722 to Countess Marie of Oettingen-Spielberg (1703–1737)
  2. in 1738 to Countess Judith of Closen (1718–1743)
  3. in 1743 to Countess Maria Theresa of Waldburg-Trauchburg (1696–1761)
• Anna Maria (1707–1783)
• Franz Wilhelm (1704–1737), married in 1724 to Countess Marie Catharina of Waldburg-Zeil-Trauchburg (1702–1739)
• Charles Wolfgang (1708–1709)

• House of Hohenzollern

• Gustav Schilling: Geschichte des Hauses Hohenzollern in genealogisch fortlaufenden Biographien aller seiner Regenten von den ältesten bis auf die neuesten Zeiten, nach Urkunden und andern authentischen Quellen. Fleischer, Leipzig, 1843, p. 279, Online
• Günter Schmitt: Sigmaringen, in: Günter Schmitt: Burgenführer Schwäbische Alb, vol. 3: Donautal. Wandern und entdecken zwischen Sigmaringen und Tuttlingen, Biberacher Verlagsdruckerei, Biberach, 1990, ISBN 3-924489-50-5, p. 41-62

• Hohenzollern family tree on the site of Hohenzollern.com at the Wayback Machine (archived January 2, 2008)