Which Org-mode version are you using? I'm using the latest Org-mode version
from source code branch `master`.

When I use your `:noweb-ref` style like this:

```org
* noweb reference with argument

#+BEGIN_SRC sh :var str="" :noweb-ref sh-print-something
echo "$str"
#+END_SRC

#+BEGIN_SRC sh :results output :noweb yes
echo "hello, "
<<sh-print-something(str="stardiviner")>>
#+END_SRC

#+RESULTS:
```

Emacs reports error:

org-babel-ref-resolve: Reference ‘sh-print-something’ not found in this
buffer.

Org-mode version: Org mode version 9.0.8 (9.0.8-elpaplus @
/home/stardiviner/Code/Emacs/org-mode/lisp/)

[stardiviner]           <Hack this world!>      GPG key ID: 47C32433
IRC(freeenode): stardiviner                     Twitter:  @numbchild
Key fingerprint = 9BAA 92BC CDDD B9EF 3B36  CB99 B8C4 B8E5 47C3 2433
Blog: http://stardiviner.github.io/

On Mon, Jun 19, 2017 at 6:21 PM, Kaushal Modi <kaushal.modi@gmail.com>
wrote:

> On Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 12:59 AM numbchild@gmail.com <numbchild@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I found noweb reference with argument `<<src-block-name(args)>>` issue.
>>
>
> It has been working fine for me for org and sh source blocks.
>
> And this does not work:
>> ```org
>> #+NAME: sh-print-something
>> #+BEGIN_SRC sh :var str=""
>> echo "$str"
>> #+END_SRC
>>
>> #+BEGIN_SRC sh :results output :noweb yes
>> echo "hello, "
>> <<sh-print-something(str="stardiviner")>>
>> #+END_SRC
>>
>
> You need to use :noweb-ref option  in the source blocks header args to set
> the noweb-ref code reference; #+NAME will not work.
>
> I have to have used noweb for the very first time in this recent project:
> https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kaushalmodi/eless/master/eless.org ;
> search for ":noweb-ref" in there to get an idea.
>
>> --
>
> Kaushal Modi
>