"Freund" itself can be used in both ways. In general (if it was not explained different in the context before) if you refer to "mein Freund / meine Freundin" of a different sex of yours it is understood to be your boyfriend. Same sex will be understood as a normal friend. To make it clear, that you don`t mean a boyfriend you can use "Bekannter" like it is mentioned above, but that`s a weaker connection like aquaintance in English. A common way to make it clear that it`s a normal friend is to use "ein guter Freund" (a friend) or "ein guter Freund von mir" (my friend). The other way round, if you want to know if someone has a boyfriend/girlfriend you have several possibilities: "Sind Sie (mit jemandem) liiert?" - VERY formal. "Sind Sie (schon) vergeben?! - quite formal "Haben Sie einen festen Freund / eine feste Freundin?" - "fester" Freund here makes it clear, that you are not talking about a normal friend. "Gehst du mit ihm / jemandem?" - informal way to ask if you are together with him / someone. "Bist du / Sind Sie mit jemandem zusammen?" - Can be used with both - the polite and informal form - used with the polite form its not very formal like the others, used with the informal "du" it is still more formal than the above phrase.

For a normal friend, use "Bekannter". Ein Bekannter von mir. For boyfriend use "Freund". Er ist mein Freund. For guys it is the other way round. Normal friend = Bekannte. Girlfriend = Freundin.

I asked a similar question, a few days ago: http://www.italki.com/answers/question/73715.htm The answers I recieved should apply here, as well.

Das Word 'Freund' kann beides bedeuten.