diff --git a/effectful/handlers/llm/sampling.py b/effectful/handlers/llm/sampling.py
index effc197d..dae040a2 100644
--- a/effectful/handlers/llm/sampling.py
+++ b/effectful/handlers/llm/sampling.py
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
+import functools
+import threading
 from collections import Counter
+from collections.abc import Callable, Sequence
 from concurrent import futures
 from concurrent.futures.thread import ThreadPoolExecutor
 
 from effectful.handlers.llm import Template
+from effectful.handlers.llm.providers import completion, tool_call
 from effectful.internals.runtime import get_interpretation, interpreter
-from effectful.ops.semantics import fwd
+from effectful.ops.semantics import fwd, handler
 from effectful.ops.syntax import ObjectInterpretation, implements
 
 
@@ -45,3 +49,51 @@ def n_votes_ahead():
                 tasks.append(executor.submit(interpreter(intp)(fwd), *args, **kwargs))
         executor.shutdown()
         return self.votes.most_common(1)[0][0]
+
+
+def sample[**P, T](template: Template[P, T], n: int) -> Callable[P, Sequence[T]]:
+    """sample returns a function with the same signature as `template` except
+    that `n` samples are returned.
+
+    When computing a batch of samples, calls to `completion` (and handlers of
+    `completion`) proceed in parallel, but other calls (e.g. tool calls) proceed
+    synchronously.
+
+    """
+    lock = threading.Lock()
+
+    def _completion(*args, **kwargs):
+        lock.release()
+        result = fwd()
+        lock.acquire()
+        return result
+
+    def _tool_call(*args, **kwargs):
+        lock.acquire()
+        try:
+            result = fwd()
+        except Exception as e:
+            lock.release()
+            raise e
+        return result
+
+    @functools.wraps(template)
+    @handler({completion: _completion, tool_call: _tool_call})
+    def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
+        with ThreadPoolExecutor() as executor:
+
+            @interpreter(get_interpretation())
+            def do_work():
+                lock.acquire()
+                try:
+                    result = template(*args, **kwargs)
+                finally:
+                    assert lock.locked()
+                    lock.release()
+                return result
+
+            tasks = [executor.submit(do_work) for _ in range(n)]
+            completed = futures.wait(tasks, return_when=futures.ALL_COMPLETED)
+            return [t.result() for t in completed.done]
+
+    return wrapper