The capacity for phenotypic plasticity offers a potential to buffer ectotherms with complex life histories such as amphibians from impacts of climate change. In particular, plasticity in thermal tolerance (i.e. acclimation) has been proposed as a proxy for determine a species’ vulnerability to global warming. However, thermal tolerance varies between life stages and so acclimation capacity will. We assessed the potential of plasticity in thermal tolerance as a coping mechanism with global warming in the common frog (Rana temporaria) during ontogeny. We investigated how acclimation temperature influences lower (CTmin) and upper (CTmax) thermal limits and how acclimation capacity of R. temporaria changes throughout ontogeny by calculating a stage-specific plasticity index. Also, we compared the acclimation capacity of R. temporaria and other species in a combined analysis. CTmax was more sensitive to temperature variation than CTmin and thus, more plastic. CTmin was most plastic in animals directly after hatching, followed by animals at the onset, during and after metamorphic climax. CTmax was least plastic in animals directly after hatching and most plastic in animals before the onset of metamorphic climax and in juvenile froglets. We found that R. temporaria has a low acclimation capacity at early stages which increases with proceeding ontogeny. Therefore, plasticity in thermal tolerance might help R. temporaria successful mitigating effects of global warming in later larval and juvenile stages but not directly after hatching. Further, our results indicate that R. temporaria has a relatively high acclimation capacity in CTmax compared to other amphibian species.