Work from Poet Laureate: four letters, having eight rhymes (6)
I believe the answer is:
plough
'work' is the definition.
(ploughing is work on a farm)
'poet laureate four letters having eight rhymes' is the wordplay.
'poet laureate' becomes 'PL' (abbreviation).
'four letters having eight rhymes' becomes 'ough' ('ough' is pronounced many different ways).
'pl'+'ough'='PLOUGH'
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for plough that I've seen before include "prepare the ground" , "Soil-breaker" , "Farm tool for cutting furrows" , "Cultivate" , "Furrower of soil" .)