Select the correct form of the past tense to fill in the blank.I ________ a headache earlier, but I feel fine now.

The sentence contrasts a state in the past ("earlier") with a state in the present ("now"). The simple past form of the verb 'have' is 'had', which denotes a state or condition completed in the past.Note that 'have' when indicating possession or state (like having an illness/headache) is a stative verb and is typically not used in the continuous form ("was having") unless describing an experience in progress over an exact duration, but simple past "had" is the most natural and accurate fit here.