Can you use a windows 7 upgrade key on a new full windows 7 installation?

We have a full Windows 7 system disk but only one access key. We have 3 other other computers that need Windows 7. 2 are currently on Vista and 1 is on XP. We would like to upgrade all of them to Windows 7. We heard a new full Windows 7 installation is better than a Windows 7 upgrade. Can we use a Windows 7 upgrade key on a new Windows 7 installation?