Disclosed are a spatial modulation-based transmitter and communication method employing a lens antenna. The spatial modulation-based transmitter includes a plurality of unit antennas, a modulator configured to perform non-orthogonal multiple access and spatial modulation for an input signal, and a controller configured to determine a target unit antenna which will transmit data in a spatial modulation manner at a current time point among the plurality of unit antennas. Each of the unit antennas includes a plurality of antenna units and a lens structure which shifts a phase of an electromagnetic wave output by at least one of the plurality of antenna units. The lens structure shifts the phase so that the plurality of antenna units may have different radiation patterns.