A fiber-optic temperature sensor by using a multi-cladding special fiber is presented. It works on the basis of leaky mode resonance from fiber core to outer cladding. With the thin-thickness inner cladding, the cladding mode is strongly excited and the resonant spectrum is very sensitive to the refractive index variation of coating material. By coating the special fiber with temperature-sensitive silicone, the temperature response was investigated experimentally from -20 degrees C to 80 degrees C. The results show high temperature sensitivity (240 pm/degrees C at 20 degrees C) and good repeatability.