It means the same to many a confused tot (5)
I believe the answer is:
ditto
'it means' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'same to many a confused tot' is the wordplay.
'same' becomes 'i' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another (I've seen this in other clues).
'many' becomes 'd'.
'a confused' indicates an anagram.
'tot' is an anagram of 'tto'.
'i' put after 'd' is 'di'.
'di'+'tto'='DITTO'
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ditto that I've seen before include "Do alternative" , "The same thing" , "Same again, indicated by two dots" , "Repeat the word above" , "Copy" .)