diff --git a/changelog.d/11369.misc b/changelog.d/11369.misc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..3c1dad544be72be244f1ea51afd26e47368cbc5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/11369.misc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Rename `get_access_token_for_user_id` to `create_access_token_for_user_id` to better reflect what it does.
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/auth.py b/synapse/handlers/auth.py
index b62e13b725cf88c851fbf4da3acb06c8a3e31e39..b2c84a0fce241db246bce80d07b7777255e8cf8c 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/auth.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/auth.py
@@ -793,7 +793,7 @@ class AuthHandler:
         ) = await self.get_refresh_token_for_user_id(
             user_id=existing_token.user_id, device_id=existing_token.device_id
         )
-        access_token = await self.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+        access_token = await self.create_access_token_for_user_id(
             user_id=existing_token.user_id,
             device_id=existing_token.device_id,
             valid_until_ms=valid_until_ms,
@@ -855,7 +855,7 @@ class AuthHandler:
         )
         return refresh_token, refresh_token_id
 
-    async def get_access_token_for_user_id(
+    async def create_access_token_for_user_id(
         self,
         user_id: str,
         device_id: Optional[str],
diff --git a/synapse/handlers/register.py b/synapse/handlers/register.py
index a0e6a01775d4f3b0a5b5743aae772e5588728a88..6b5c3d1974f58efbf241203e3a216880bd8527c0 100644
--- a/synapse/handlers/register.py
+++ b/synapse/handlers/register.py
@@ -819,7 +819,7 @@ class RegistrationHandler:
                 )
                 valid_until_ms = self.clock.time_msec() + self.access_token_lifetime
 
-            access_token = await self._auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            access_token = await self._auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 user_id,
                 device_id=registered_device_id,
                 valid_until_ms=valid_until_ms,
diff --git a/synapse/rest/admin/users.py b/synapse/rest/admin/users.py
index 23a8bf1fdbccdaafe2b173a30c6293443034a3fe..ccd9a2a175809ead046932168e4b88ad9f5a82b4 100644
--- a/synapse/rest/admin/users.py
+++ b/synapse/rest/admin/users.py
@@ -898,7 +898,7 @@ class UserTokenRestServlet(RestServlet):
         if auth_user.to_string() == user_id:
             raise SynapseError(400, "Cannot use admin API to login as self")
 
-        token = await self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+        token = await self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
             user_id=auth_user.to_string(),
             device_id=None,
             valid_until_ms=valid_until_ms,
diff --git a/tests/handlers/test_auth.py b/tests/handlers/test_auth.py
index 12857053e758f639228ebd9a3aa8197aaaf8ee19..72e176da75438e7056db4a66fc7440a1367c484d 100644
--- a/tests/handlers/test_auth.py
+++ b/tests/handlers/test_auth.py
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ class AuthTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
         self.auth_blocking._limit_usage_by_mau = False
         # Ensure does not throw exception
         self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user1, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class AuthTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
         )
 
         self.get_failure(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user1, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             ),
             ResourceLimitError,
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ class AuthTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
 
         # If not in monthly active cohort
         self.get_failure(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user1, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             ),
             ResourceLimitError,
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ class AuthTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
             return_value=make_awaitable(self.clock.time_msec())
         )
         self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user1, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ class AuthTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
         )
         # Ensure does not raise exception
         self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user1, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )
diff --git a/tests/rest/admin/test_user.py b/tests/rest/admin/test_user.py
index c9fe0f06c28c3806d21058e7b1dfa8a96731fc0f..5011e5456353dcaa1fc374f07f9c66eaf5b47792 100644
--- a/tests/rest/admin/test_user.py
+++ b/tests/rest/admin/test_user.py
@@ -1169,14 +1169,14 @@ class UserRestTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
         # regardless of whether password login or SSO is allowed
         self.admin_user = self.register_user("admin", "pass", admin=True)
         self.admin_user_tok = self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.admin_user, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )
 
         self.other_user = self.register_user("user", "pass", displayname="User")
         self.other_user_token = self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.other_user, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )
diff --git a/tests/rest/client/test_capabilities.py b/tests/rest/client/test_capabilities.py
index b9e36025520ece5133d34ec898dcaecd45a823e2..249808b031496ac26869b47249c74769896f80a4 100644
--- a/tests/rest/client/test_capabilities.py
+++ b/tests/rest/client/test_capabilities.py
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ class CapabilitiesTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
     @override_config({"password_config": {"localdb_enabled": False}})
     def test_get_change_password_capabilities_localdb_disabled(self):
         access_token = self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ class CapabilitiesTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
     @override_config({"password_config": {"enabled": False}})
     def test_get_change_password_capabilities_password_disabled(self):
         access_token = self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class CapabilitiesTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
     @override_config({"experimental_features": {"msc3244_enabled": False}})
     def test_get_does_not_include_msc3244_fields_when_disabled(self):
         access_token = self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ class CapabilitiesTestCase(unittest.HomeserverTestCase):
 
     def test_get_does_include_msc3244_fields_when_enabled(self):
         access_token = self.get_success(
-            self.auth_handler.get_access_token_for_user_id(
+            self.auth_handler.create_access_token_for_user_id(
                 self.user, device_id=None, valid_until_ms=None
             )
         )