Among the stories that appeared over the past few months that Ms. Rooney now says were inventions:

She and her husband so desperately wanted their fifth child to be a girl that they traveled to Mexico for a $10,000 “gender selection treatment.” (“Coleen loves her boys more than anything, but she’s never been shy about admitting she would also love a daughter,” the article said, citing only “a source.” “That would really complete the set for her and Wayne.”)

She was planning to revive her television career. The Sun’s article said that she had been forced to turn down a chance to appear on “Strictly Come Dancing” — the British equivalent of “Dancing With the Stars” — and, again citing an unnamed source, said that plans were in place for her to get her own show on Channel 4 or ITV.

The Rooneys’ new house near Manchester, estimated to be worth $25 million, had flooded. The Sun quoted its source as saying, “The house is Wayne and Coleen’s dream, so to see it being damaged has been horrible for them.”

On Wednesday, The Sun added a note to each of those articles online saying that Ms. Rooney “said that she made this story up in an effort to find out who was leaking to the press.”

The disclaimers link to The Sun’s own coverage of the dispute, which asserts that Ms. Rooney had been offered an opportunity to comment on each story before publication, and had declined. “Like all reputable media organizations, we don’t comment on sources,” an anonymous representative of the paper is quoted as saying.

The Sun did not respond to a request for further comment.

“It’s been tough keeping it to myself and not making any comment at all,” Ms. Rooney wrote on Instagram, “especially when the stories have been leaked, however, I had to. Now I know for certain which account / individual it’s come from.”

She acknowledged that followers of her stories may have been slightly mystified by the absence of new posts, but she was quickly praised for her detective work, with several expressing admiration for her approach.