Forming limit strains of 270 MPa grade cold rolled steel sheet have been precisely measured under linear and combined strain paths using a newly developed, double‐action punch‐stretching testing apparatus. In the combined strain paths, the test material is subjected to equibiaxial tension followed by plane‐strain tension. It is found that the forming limit strains are path‐dependent and that those measured for linear strain paths are higher than those for the combined strain paths. Furthermore, in order to check the path‐independency of the forming limit stresses [Arrieux, R., Bedrin, C. and Bovin, M.: Proc. 12th IDDRG Congress, (1982), 61–71], forming limit stresses of the test material have been calculated for the linear and combined strain paths using the numerical method proposed by Stoughton [Stoughton, T. B.: Int. J. Mech. Sci., 42 (2000), 1–27]. The forming limit stresses calculated from the combined strain paths have almost coincided with those determined for linear strain paths. The FLSC concept is therefore valuable for predicting the failure of metal sheets in plane stress states, particularly in multistage forming.