The element $\alpha^{-1}$ is contained in $k(\alpha)$ basically by definition. (Excluding the degenerate case $\alpha=0$.) As the notation $k(\alpha)$ means the smallest field containing $k$ and $\alpha$.
By contrast $k[\alpha]$ may well not contain $\alpha^{-1}$, informally as it is formed by the elements one gets plugging $\alpha$ into a polynomial with coefficients in $k$.
If $\alpha$ is algebraic the two happen to coincide but this is a result that needs to be proved. And the converse holds as well.
In case you actually want a proof that they are not equal for transcendental elements, rather than just the plausibility argument I gave above, then show that $\alpha^{-1}$ is actually not a polynomial expression in $\alpha$ by assuming the converse and deriving that $\alpha$ would be a root of a polynomial.