What's the difference between "put" and "pay" here?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
In this sentence, "put" does in fact mean to pay, but you place your money into a slot in order to access the toilet. It's like a gumball machine. You put a coin into the slot to receive a gumball. You pay money for a good or service by placing it into a slot. The same goes for a toll meter. You have to put money into the toll in order to park your car.