Electronic – Map n states to hardwired outputs

design

I'm still new to the world of electronics, so forgive me if the question is too simple.
What I'm trying to do is build a component which takes n wires, of which only one at a time (or none) will be powered. It is connected to a 7-segments display: each state corresponds to a letter on the display.
This is the design I'm using:

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

However, I see a potential issue: when one of the input wires is triggered, the signal also flows "backwards", specifically in all the wires which share at least one output with the original wire [It's hard to explain with words, you might understand looking at the picture.]
I definitely want to avoid this effect. However, the only solution I can think of is placing diodes between one insertion and another, which is not possible due to scarcity of materials (this is a school project thing, so I'm likely to have access to 10-12 diodes).
Are there more resources-efficient methods to achieve this?

I'm using 9V DC current. The wires will be triggered on or off at low frequencies, since it will rely on hand-operated switches to control current flow.

Best Answer

Assuming you don't want to use more complex chips you will indeed need diodes. A simple one like a 1N4148 will do. You will need quite a few of them, but luckily they are cheap.

Note that you will also need current limiting resistors in series with each segment of your display. 1k would be a good guess.