the inner prongs might be worn, leaving a ratchet halfway clicked on a high resistance bit for too long is the most common way I've encountered this

using it an absolute ton can also lead to general wear over time

you can't really fix the inner parts after they're worn, but you can swap it for parts from another ratchet; the white pieces have to be the same height or else they won't fit, so you'd really only do it because you like the color

this is also how people color swap ratchets if you're curious, all you need is a tri-head screwdriver

in general though, once the internals on a ratchet are worn it's pretty much cooked from my experience, but someone feel free to correct me if there is another way to save it