I see that it is very similar to <progress>, and may be misused as a progress bar (which w3 actually even acknowledges and guides against). I wonder why one tag could not have sufficed.
<meter> allows you to define an optimal and a sub-optimal value, such that a full meter might be bad (or good) depending on where the value lands relative to it.
Although, one could argue that a <progress> is just a <meter> where the optimal value is 100%.
