As Ian says: the chain is too short and this is causing significant problems when the OP is in the largest ring. There is a danger of catastrophic rear derailleur breakage (and more) with a chain this short.
The OP doesn't say how they know their freewheel is damaged but the straightforward solution is to replace the freewheel and chain at the same time. Until then I'd advise never using the largest ring.
I am going to be replacing the freewheel with a new one as well as the chain and rear derailleur.