Unable to paste from clipboard

As the title says my problem is that I cannot paste from the clipboard into a Word file.

When I first boot up I can copy a single image from IE into a Word file and after that nothing at all I can however insert images from my own pictures or from clip art via the insert command.

I have been able to copy and paste from IE into Word for as long as I can remember so am baffled by this sudden change.

Thank you in advance for any advice or suggestions.