my car runs hot on only on my way back home from work but not on my way to work in the morning

Ambient temp may have a lot to do w that just because it's warmer in the afternoon than it is in the morning, but it may be an indicator of a thermostat that could be going bad, or a water pump that is on the brink, especially if you haven't detected any leaks.

I agree with above. Have you ever put anything like stop leak in your radiator? If so you could have some blockage in the radiator not allowing the fluid to cool properly in the heat of the day. This will sound weird but its something to try in narrowing down what your issue is. In the evenings when you notice the engine temp starting to rise turn your defroster to high, the temp setting to the hottest and your fan selection to high also. Notice the temp gauge. If the temp starts to drop while you are circulating water thru the heater core (vea the defroster) I would suspect you have some sort of blockage in the radiator. Also check to see that your radiator cooling fans are coming on at an idle when ac is on or when car is getting hotter than the normal range. If they are not I would check into why they are not operating properly. Hope this helps and Drive safe.