diff --git a/lib/searchkick/reindex.rb b/lib/searchkick/reindex.rb
index 980767f..fa2b1d1 100644
--- a/lib/searchkick/reindex.rb
+++ b/lib/searchkick/reindex.rb
@@ -125,6 +125,11 @@ module Searchkick
                 tokenizer: "keyword",
                 filter: ["lowercase", "asciifolding"]
               },
+              searchkick_word_search: {
+                type: "custom",
+                tokenizer: "standard",
+                filter: ["lowercase", "asciifolding"]
+              },
               searchkick_suggest_index: {
                 type: "custom",
                 tokenizer: "standard",
diff --git a/lib/searchkick/search.rb b/lib/searchkick/search.rb
index 44c20b2..97f28ce 100644
--- a/lib/searchkick/search.rb
+++ b/lib/searchkick/search.rb
@@ -92,11 +92,12 @@ module Searchkick
                 ]
               end
             else
+              analyzer = field.match(/\.word_(start|middle|end)\z/) ? "searchkick_word_search" : "searchkick_autocomplete_search"
               queries << {
                 multi_match: {
                   fields: [field],
                   query: term,
-                  analyzer: "searchkick_autocomplete_search"
+                  analyzer: analyzer
                 }
               }
             end
diff --git a/test/autocomplete_test.rb b/test/autocomplete_test.rb
index a5312f2..6566194 100644
--- a/test/autocomplete_test.rb
+++ b/test/autocomplete_test.rb
@@ -18,33 +18,38 @@ class TestAutocomplete < Minitest::Unit::TestCase
   end
 
   def test_text_start
-    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"]
-    assert_search "whe", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"], fields: [{name: :text_start}]
+    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"]
+    assert_search "where in the world is", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"], fields: [{name: :text_start}]
+    assert_search "in the world", [], fields: [{name: :text_start}]
   end
 
   def test_text_middle
-    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"]
-    assert_search "n the wor", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"], fields: [{name: :text_middle}]
+    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"]
+    assert_search "where in the world is", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"], fields: [{name: :text_middle}]
+    assert_search "n the wor", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"], fields: [{name: :text_middle}]
+    assert_search "men san diego", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"], fields: [{name: :text_middle}]
+    assert_search "world carmen", [], fields: [{name: :text_middle}]
   end
 
   def test_text_end
-    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"]
-    assert_search "ego?", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"], fields: [{name: :text_end}]
+    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"]
+    assert_search "men san diego", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"], fields: [{name: :text_end}]
+    assert_search "carmen san", [], fields: [{name: :text_end}]
   end
 
   def test_word_start
-    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"]
-    assert_search "car", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"], fields: [{name: :word_start}]
+    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"]
+    assert_search "car san wor", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"], fields: [{name: :word_start}]
   end
 
   def test_word_middle
-    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"]
-    assert_search "orl", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"], fields: [{name: :word_middle}]
+    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"]
+    assert_search "orl", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"], fields: [{name: :word_middle}]
   end
 
   def test_word_end
-    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"]
-    assert_search "men", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?"], fields: [{name: :word_end}]
+    store_names ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"]
+    assert_search "rld men ego", ["Where in the World is Carmen San Diego"], fields: [{name: :word_end}]
   end
 
 end
--
libgit2 0.21.0