Group needing somewhere to sleep beside Great Lake (7)
I believe the answer is:
coterie
'group' is the definition.
(term for a group of associated people)
'somewhere to sleep beside great lake' is the wordplay.
'somewhere to sleep' becomes 'cot' (a baby's bed).
'beside' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'great lake' becomes 'erie' (Erie is one of the Great Lakes).
'cot'+'erie'='COTERIE'
'needing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for coterie that I've seen before include "In-group" , "Exclusive group with shared interests" , "Select group" , "EEC trio in exclusive group" , "Literary circle" .)