diff --git a/pyls/plugins/hover.py b/pyls/plugins/hover.py
index fe1eca82..33883b74 100644
--- a/pyls/plugins/hover.py
+++ b/pyls/plugins/hover.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # Copyright 2017 Palantir Technologies, Inc.
 import logging
+import json
 from pyls import hookimpl, _utils
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -17,4 +18,9 @@ def pyls_hover(document, position):
         # :(
         return {'contents': ''}
 
-    return {'contents': _utils.format_docstring(definitions[0].docstring()) or ""}
+    pos = document.word_range_at_position(position)
+
+    return {
+        'contents': _utils.format_docstring(definitions[0].docstring()) or "",
+        'range': pos,
+    }
diff --git a/pyls/workspace.py b/pyls/workspace.py
index eaebc12d..233ab9a7 100644
--- a/pyls/workspace.py
+++ b/pyls/workspace.py
@@ -178,6 +178,28 @@ def offset_at_position(self, position):
         """Return the byte-offset pointed at by the given position."""
         return position['character'] + len(''.join(self.lines[:position['line']]))
 
+    def word_range_at_position(self, position):
+        """Get the range of a word at given position."""
+        if position['line'] >= len(self.lines):
+            return None
+
+        line = self.lines[position['line']]
+        i = position['character']
+        # Split word in two
+        start = line[:i]
+        end = line[i:]
+
+        # Take end of start and start of end to find word
+        # These are guaranteed to match, even if they match the empty string
+        m_start = RE_START_WORD.findall(start)
+        m_end = RE_END_WORD.findall(end)
+
+        start = { 'line': position['line'], 'character': i - len(m_start[0]) }
+        end = { 'line': position['line'], 'character': i + len(m_end[-1]) }
+
+        return { 'start': start, 'end': end }
+
+
     def word_at_position(self, position):
         """Get the word under the cursor returning the start and end positions."""
         if position['line'] >= len(self.lines):
diff --git a/test/plugins/test_hover.py b/test/plugins/test_hover.py
index 5d3baf83..c1c8b58a 100644
--- a/test/plugins/test_hover.py
+++ b/test/plugins/test_hover.py
@@ -21,7 +21,17 @@ def test_hover():
     doc = Document(DOC_URI, DOC)
 
     assert {
-        'contents': 'main()\n\nhello world'
+        'contents': 'main()\n\nhello world',
+        'range': {
+            'start': {
+                'line': 2,
+                'character': 4,
+            },
+            'end': {
+                'line': 2,
+                'character': 8,
+            },
+        },
     } == pyls_hover(doc, hov_position)
 
     assert {'contents': ''} == pyls_hover(doc, no_hov_position)