Multi-reference compound prediction using masking for encoding and decoding blocks of video frames is described. A mask for segmenting a current block of a current frame of the video sequence into at least a first segment and a second segment is determined using a first set of reference frames. A first predictor using the first set of reference frames is generated for the first segment of the current block. A second predictor is generated for the second segment of the current block using a second set of reference frames, wherein the first set of reference frames is a subset of the second set of reference frames.