diff --git a/src/DataWrangling/metadata.jl b/src/DataWrangling/metadata.jl
index 645c27f8..c77ef783 100644
--- a/src/DataWrangling/metadata.jl
+++ b/src/DataWrangling/metadata.jl
@@ -497,16 +497,16 @@ function Fields.set!(fields::NamedTuple, mset::MetadataSet)
 end
 
 """
-    set!(model, mset::MetadataSet)
+    set!(model, mset::MetadataSet, names=keys(variable_glossary))
 
-Set fields of `model` from the variables in `mset`, auto-routing verbose
-dataset variable names to short model field-names via the global
-[`variable_glossary`](@ref) registry.
+Route variables from `mset` to `set!(model; kwargs...)`, translating verbose
+dataset names to short model field-names via [`variable_glossary`](@ref).
+Only the intersection of `names` and `mset.names` is forwarded.
 
-Variables in `mset` that have no entry in `variable_glossary` are silently
-skipped — this lets partial application across coupled-model components work
-naturally. For example, a single 4-variable set can drive both an ocean and a
-sea-ice model:
+The default `names` is every glossary key — fine for permissive models. Models
+that throw on unknown kwargs (`HydrostaticFreeSurfaceModel`, `SeaIceModel`)
+override the 2-argument form to pass a narrower `names`, letting a single
+multi-component MetadataSet drive both an ocean and a sea-ice model:
 
 ```julia
 mset = MetadataSet(:temperature, :salinity,
@@ -516,13 +516,31 @@ set!(ocean.model,   mset)   # consumes :temperature, :salinity  → T, S
 set!(sea_ice.model, mset)   # consumes :sea_ice_thickness, :sea_ice_concentration → h, ℵ
 ```
 """
-function Fields.set!(model, mset::MetadataSet)
-    names = getfield(mset, :names)
-    known = filter(n -> haskey(variable_glossary, n), names)
-    kwargs = NamedTuple{Tuple(variable_glossary[n] for n in known)}(Tuple(mset[n] for n in known))
+function Fields.set!(model, mset::MetadataSet, names=keys(variable_glossary))
+    routed = filter(in(names), getfield(mset, :names))
+    isempty(routed) && return model
+    kwargs = NamedTuple{Tuple(variable_glossary[n] for n in routed)}(Tuple(mset[n] for n in routed))
     return set!(model; kwargs...)
 end
 
+# Ocean: route only variables whose short name appears in velocities,
+# tracers, or free_surface — the three places HydrostaticFreeSurfaceModel's
+# `set!` looks up kwargs.
+using Oceananigans.Models.HydrostaticFreeSurfaceModels: HydrostaticFreeSurfaceModel
+function Fields.set!(model::HydrostaticFreeSurfaceModel, mset::MetadataSet)
+    short = (propertynames(model.velocities)...,
+             propertynames(model.tracers)...,
+             propertynames(model.free_surface)...)
+    names = Tuple(n for (n, s) in variable_glossary if s in short)
+    return set!(model, mset, names)
+end
+
+# Sea ice: ClimaSeaIce's `set!(::SeaIceModel; h, ℵ)` only accepts these two.
+using ClimaSeaIce: SeaIceModel
+function Fields.set!(model::SeaIceModel, mset::MetadataSet)
+    return set!(model, mset, (:sea_ice_thickness, :sea_ice_concentration))
+end
+
 """
     download(mset::MetadataSet; kwargs...)
 
diff --git a/test/test_metadata_set.jl b/test/test_metadata_set.jl
index 9e5d62c5..32c085d5 100644
--- a/test/test_metadata_set.jl
+++ b/test/test_metadata_set.jl
@@ -211,6 +211,69 @@ end
     @test issubset(received_keys, values(NumericalEarth.DataWrangling.variable_glossary))
 end
 
+#####
+##### Per-model overrides (regression for issue with shared multi-component sets)
+#####
+##### Real Oceananigans/ClimaSeaIce models throw ArgumentError on unknown
+##### kwargs, so they override `set!(model, ::MetadataSet)` to filter down to
+##### the variables they consume. This RestrictiveStubModel mimics that
+##### strictness and demonstrates the override pattern used by the real
+##### dispatches in src/DataWrangling/metadata.jl.
+
+mutable struct RestrictiveStubModel
+    accepts  :: Tuple{Vararg{Symbol}}        # short field names this model accepts
+    received :: Vector{Pair{Symbol, Any}}
+    RestrictiveStubModel(accepts...) = new(accepts, Pair{Symbol, Any}[])
+end
+
+function NumericalEarth.DataWrangling.set!(m::RestrictiveStubModel; kw...)
+    for (k, v) in kw
+        k in m.accepts || throw(ArgumentError("name $k not accepted by RestrictiveStubModel"))
+        push!(m.received, k => v)
+    end
+    return m
+end
+
+# Override the 2-arg dispatch to pass a narrowed `names` to the generic
+# 3-arg form — same shape as the real HydrostaticFreeSurfaceModel/SeaIceModel
+# methods.
+function Oceananigans.Fields.set!(m::RestrictiveStubModel, mset::MetadataSet)
+    names = Tuple(n for (n, s) in variable_glossary if s in m.accepts)
+    return set!(m, mset, names)
+end
+
+@testset "set!(model, mset) — per-model overrides filter a shared MetadataSet" begin
+    mset = MetadataSet(:temperature, :salinity,
+                       :sea_ice_thickness, :sea_ice_concentration;
+                       dataset = ECCO4Monthly(),
+                       date    = snapshot_date)
+
+    # Ocean-like model: override filters to (:T, :S).
+    ocean_like = RestrictiveStubModel(:T, :S)
+    set!(ocean_like, mset)
+    ocean_keys = first.(ocean_like.received)
+    @test :T in ocean_keys
+    @test :S in ocean_keys
+    @test !(:h in ocean_keys)
+    @test !(:ℵ in ocean_keys)
+    @test length(ocean_keys) == 2
+
+    # Sea-ice-like model: override filters to (:h, :ℵ).
+    sea_ice_like = RestrictiveStubModel(:h, :ℵ)
+    set!(sea_ice_like, mset)
+    ice_keys = first.(sea_ice_like.received)
+    @test :h in ice_keys
+    @test :ℵ in ice_keys
+    @test !(:T in ice_keys)
+    @test !(:S in ice_keys)
+    @test length(ice_keys) == 2
+
+    # No matching variables → no-op, no error.
+    empty_model = RestrictiveStubModel(:foo)
+    set!(empty_model, mset)
+    @test isempty(empty_model.received)
+end
+
 @testset "set!(::NamedTuple, mset) — explicit per-variable" begin
     mset = MetadataSet(:temperature, :salinity;
                        dataset = ECCO4Monthly(),