iCloud duplicating folders & files can not be opened (macOS Catalina)

I have my documents folder on iCloud. Since installing Catalina folders have been multiplying. The original folder (e.g., Articles) has spawned duplicate copies (Articles 2 and Articles 3).

The original folder is empty, the duplicates contain files, but rarely (maybe even never) the same set of files. Usually the item count in the 2nd instance of the folder is one less that the 3rd instance. The duplicate folders also exist on iCloud.

When I attempt to open a file through Finder I'm ignored - double-clicking on the file produces no result. If I try open filename in Terminal I at least get an error message "The file filename does not exist."

Any idea of what is going on? And how to fix it?

As a troubleshoot I was about to suggest sign out and in, or simply disable document sync in iCloud. But first get all your iCloud documents from the Drive by requesting on https://privacy.apple.com.

Since the latest change prevails in sync, make changes in iCloud and then sign back in.