To the TO: I read your initial post twice now, I think what you are looking for, i.e., an adapter that allows you to use a larger filter on a lens with a smaller filter thread (this is what you want, right?), is called a step-up ring (see, e.g., here:
http://www.stepupring.com/).
For UV filters (whether or not we "need" those in the digital age is another debate

) I would definitely get fitting ones. For CPLs, the story is a bit different. I got myself a 82mm CPL (Hoya HD) because at that time I was planning to buy a lens with a 82mm filter thread, and I got a very good deal on the filter at that time.
I then bought step-up rings from 67->77mm and from 77->82mm, allowing me to use the filter with basically all my lenses, However, as other already said, this prevents my from using the standard lens hoods, which is IMO acceptable for wide angle lenses (where a lens hood cannot offer that much protection anyway), it could more significantly impact tele lenses. So for my 70-200 f4 IS (67m filter thread) I additionally got myself a 82mm screw-on lens hood. I can now use the 67->77mm step-up ring,followed by the 77->82mm step-up ring, followed by the CPL, followed by the screw-on hood, and can now very comfortably rotate the filter by simply rotating the screw-on hood.
But would I do it that way again?
While the purchase of the 82mm filter was actually a makeshift solution to compensate for my mistake of buying the 82mm CPL, I found it highly useful -- much better than trying to rotate a "fitting" CPL within the normal hood.
Of course if I had to do it again I would definitely go for a 77mm CPL now that I didn't get that 82mm filter thread lens -- using two step-up rings in sequence makes it yet even a bit more a PITA than using only one.

That would allow me to use all my 77mm-filter-thread lenses (24-105, 17-55) directly with the CPL and use their standard hoods, although already a relatively deep hoods like the one for the 17-55 (which BTW I also use with the 24-105, since I am on a crop body) make it difficult to rotate the CPL with the hood on (some smarter lens vendors leave a small space in the hood on the belly side which allows you to rotate a CPL). If I could
not live with rotating the CPL with the standard hood on (and smearing it all the time), I would get a 77mm screw-on hood for wide-to-normal angle lenses (which -- being not petal-shaped looks of course only half as cool as the original petal-shaped one

) and a longer hood for tele lenses to use with the 70-200 (+ step-up ring) just as I am using the 82mm screw on hood now.