We explain the $W$-boson mass anomaly by introducing an $SU(2)_L$ scalar multiplet with general isospin and hypercharge in the case without its vacuum expectation value. It is shown that the dominant contribution from the scalar multiplet to the $W$-boson mass arises at one-loop level, which can be expressed in terms of the electroweak (EW) oblique parameters $T$ and $S$ at leading order. We firstly rederive the general formulae of $T$ and $S$ induced by a scalar multiplet of EW charges, confirming the results in the literature. We then study several specific examples of great phenomenological interest by applying these general expressions. As a result, it is found that the model with a scalar multiplet in an $SU(2)_L$ real representation with $Y=0$ cannot generate 
the required $M_W$ correction since it leads to vanishing values of $T$ and $S$. On the other hand, the cases with scalars in a complex representation under $SU(2)_L$ with a general hypercharge can explain the $M_W$ excess observed by CDF-\uppercase\expandafter{\romannumeral2} due to nonzero $T$ and $S$. We further take into account of the strong constraints from the perturbativity and the EW global fit of the precision data, and vary the isospin representation and hypercharge of the additional scalar multiplet, in order to assess the extent of the model to solve the $W$-boson mass anomaly. It turns out that these constraints play important roles in setting limits on the model parameter space. We also briefly describe the collider signatures of the extra scalar multiplet, especially when it contains long-lived heavy highly charged states. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. Article funded by SCOAP3 and published under licence by Chinese Physical Society and the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Science and the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and IOP Publishing Ltd